Filler Wire Effects On GTAW-Welded IS-

2062E350C Pressure Vessel Steel

Abstract: This research intends to find out the effects of filler wire composition on joining
properties of IS-2062E350C-welded with manual gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) process.
Microhardness, tensile strength, and microscopy analysis of joints were evaluated with respect
to different filler wires including ER 308L, ER316L, ER70S2 and ER309L. Joints were made
on 3-mm-thin sheet of IS-2062E350C using manual GTAW process. The welding process was
conducted at two different current intensities i.e., 85A and 95A in two passes to avoid
distortion in the weld. Samples were made using EDM-wire cut machine for testing purpose.
Total eight welded samples were made out of which three samples strips of 20mm each were
cut using EDM-wire machine. Tensile test specimen were made as per ASTM E8 standards.
Small samples of size (26*10)mm were made for microhardness (Vickers-test) and
microstructure analysis.

Keywords: Welding processes GTAW, Microstructure analysis, Microhardness, Tensile

strength, IS-2062E350C.

1 Introduction
Gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) process finds broad range of applications in various
sectors such as petroleum industries, manufacturing industries, automobiles, refineries and
construction industries due to its capability of high-quality weld [9]. The low alloy steels are
generally joined by gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) for the thinner sections [7]. Gas
tungsten arc welding (GTAW) is an arc welding process that produces coalescence of metals
by heating them with an arc between a non-consumable electrode and base metal. GTAW
process is suitable for joining thin and medium thickness materials such as steel sheets and for
applications where metallurgical control of the weld metal in critical.[1]. In conventional arc
welding, the base metal is heated to molten state so that the metal may join together by using
fusion welding. An electrode or filler is added in the heated zone, which leads to replace metal
consumed by the process and to produce a reinforcement area on both internal and external
surface based on the weld joint configuration. In arc welding process, high-current and low
voltage are applied to produce the arc, which hits in between the work metal and the end of
the electrode work, generating the intense heat that immediately melts tile surface. The
several variables, such as composition of base material and its size, equipment, fluxes, gases,
electrodes, degree of skill, and strength requirements affect the quality of the sound welds [7].
It is a precise and versatile welding process that uses a non-consumable tungsten electrode to
produce high-quality welds. Tungsten has a very high melting point and doesn't become part
of the weld. It provides the electrical arc for welding. An electric arc is created between the
tungsten electrode and the base metals. This arc generates intense heat, causing the metals to
melt. The IS 2062 E350C is a normalized fine-grain steel with a minimum yield strength of
350 MPa in the normalized condition. It possesses excellent corrosion resistance and when it
got exposed in comprehensive cyclic mild environments, it works well. It can be easily
welded with or without fillers. Normalizing is a heat treatment process that refines the grain
structure of the steel, improving its mechanical properties and ensuring uniform properties
throughout the material. It is specifically designed for use in pressure equipment applications,
such as vessels, boilers, and storage tanks. It is well-suited for environments where elevated
temperatures and pressure are a concern. This steel is weldable, which is a crucial
characteristic for materials used in pressure vessel and boiler applications. It typically
contains elements such as carbon (C), manganese (Mn), silicon (Si), phosphorus (P), sulphur
(S), and trace amounts of other elements. Thus, selection of proper material and welding
process is essentially important in the field of any industry, in view of this various research
had been carried out in the past to contribute in this field, Kaur et al. (2014) investigated the
impact of filler wire composition on joining properties of GTAW Stainless Steel 202,
employing ER308L, ER316L, and ER310 fillers. SEM/EDAX analysis revealed white
particles in weld metal containing lower wt% of Cr, Ni but higher C, O, Si, and Al, while
black particles exhibited higher Cr and Ni content, offering enhanced corrosion resistance.
ER308L exhibited high hardness and tensile strength, with ER316L and ER310 showing
fewer white particles [1]. Naffakh et al. (2007) evaluated welding consumables for dissimilar
welds between 310 austenitic stainless steel and Inconel 657. Inconel filler materials exhibited
the least susceptibility to hot cracking, while Inconel A showed the highest tensile strength
and Inconel 82 the least. Consequently, Inconel A filler material is recommended for joints
between 310 SS and Inconel 657 base metal due to its optimum properties at room
temperature [2]. Mahajan et al. (2021) assessed mechanical properties of TIG welded SS304
joints using ER 308L, 316L, and 310 filler materials. SEM/EDAX analysis revealed ER 316L
and ER 310 provided elevated levels of alloying elements to the weldments. ER 316L
demonstrated superior outcomes in tensile tests and offered optimal Cr, Mo, Ni elements for
boiler applications when welded with SS304[3]. Cioată et al. (2022) examined the influence
of welding parameters on pressure vessel steel P355N using molybdenum-alloyed copper
filler wire. X-ray analysis during Submerged Arc Welding revealed that higher welding arc
voltage widened the weld bead while reducing its height, whereas increased current widened
the bead but reduced height, leading to defects like excessive penetration and porosities.
Additionally, higher welding speed decreased both width and height of the weld seam,
potentially causing defects like large heat affected zones and inadequate root penetration [4].
Poulose et al. (2015) investigated GTAW of dissimilar metals, Austenitic Stainless Steel and
Low Carbon Steel, using Stainless Steel 316L filler. Mechanical tests showed weld properties
similar to base metal, with fractures occurring at the base metal from the heat affected zone.
Optimal weld penetration was achieved at specific GTAW parameters, inducing ferrite phases
in the fusion zone, enhancing corrosion resistance due to increased chromium to nickel ratio
[5]. Gurusamy et al. (2019) analysed HSLA steel welds using GTAW with helium and argon
shielding gases. Helium welding resulted in higher austenite phase presence due to manganese
content, enhancing corrosion resistance with nickel. Helium-welded specimens exhibited
superior mechanical properties, including higher ultimate tensile strength, impact strength,
and hardness, suggesting favourable outcomes with helium shielding gas [6]. Joseph et al.
(2020) investigated GTAW on T91 alloy steel tubes using ER 505 filler wire with different
purge/shielding gases. Helium gas yielded deeper penetration and shallow metal deposition,
while argon resulted in high residual stress and higher average hardness. Microstructure
analysis showed tempered martensite structure in all specimens, with pure helium
demonstrating superior weld characteristics compared to other gas compositions [7]. Kiran et
al. (2022) conducted experimental and mathematical studies on GTAW parameters for similar
and dissimilar steel substrates, including EN 10025 Steel and D36 shipbuilding steel. Tensile
residual stresses were induced over the weld length and heat-affected zone (HAZ), with
compressive residual stresses at the base plate. Higher tensile strength was observed in double
V groove welded specimens, while dissimilar material welds exhibited greater tensile and
fatigue strength compared to similar material welds [8]. Aravindkumar et al. (2021)
investigated microstructural characteristics and mechanical properties of 316 L stainless steel
welded joints using nickel-coated filler materials via gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW). SEM
analysis revealed increased heat-affected zone (HAZ) due to grain diffusion during high-
temperature GTAW. Ni-304 filler exhibited 1.8% higher average hardness compared to plain
316, with Ni-316, Ni-304, and Ni-308 fillers showing higher tensile strength and Ni-304
displaying the highest toughness, suggesting their suitability for welding 316 base metal [9].
Peasura et al. (2017) investigated the effects of submerged arc welding (SAW) parameters on
ASTM A283 Grade A pressure vessel steel. SAW parameters included welding currents of
260, 270, and 280 amperes, voltages of 28 or 33 volts, and welding speeds of 10 or 11 mm/sec
using a 2.00 mm LC-72 electrode. Optimal parameters (270A, 33V, 10 mm/sec) resulted in a
tensile strength of 541 MPa and hardness of 254 HV, with a microstructure comprising
pearlite and ferrite influencing pearlite density in the parent phase [10]. Reddy et al. (2014) in
the investigation of weldability between AISI 4140 and AISI 316 using GTAW with ER309L
filler, successful welds were achieved with and without filler wire. Martensite formation was
observed in the heat-affected zone of AISI 4140, while tensile failures consistently occurred
in the parent metal of AISI 316, with weld strength comparable to AISI 4140/AISI 304
combinations [11]. The aforementioned literatures clearly indicate that research attempts were
made using different techniques like use of different filler wires, electrodes and processes in
order to enhance the properties of base material and improve its strength for purpose of
various applications. In this research we intend to find out the effect of use of different filler
wires which include ER308L, ER309L, ER316L and ER709S-2 with GTAW welding process
on IS2062E350C (pressure vessel steel). The chemical composition of filler wires are
mentioned in Table 1.
Filler Wire C(%) Cr(%) Ni(%) Mo(%) Mn(%) Si(%) P(%) S(%)
Cu(%)

ER308L 0.03 19.5-22 9-11 0.75 1-2.5 0.30-0.65 0.03 0.03 0.75
ER309L 0.03 23-25 12-14 0.75 1-2.5 0.3-0.65 0.03 0.03 0.75
ER316L 0.03 18-20 11-14 2-3 1-2.5 0.3-0.65 0.03 0.03 0.75
ER70S-2 0.07 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.9-1.4 0.4-0.7 0.025 0.035 0.50

Table 1. Chemical Composition.

GTAW process was chosen for this research because it is used for welding thin sheets[1]. The
application of this research is thin pressure vessels (specifically LPG Cylinders). Since, LPG
cylinders are passed through a series of welding parts and portions. Therefore, it is important
to study the effects of different filler wires with GTAW process on IS2062E350C.

Welding Torch Welding Parameter Controller Power Source

Fig.1. GTAW Welding Setup.

2 Materials and Methodology

The base material selected for the research work was 3-mm-thin sheet of grade IS-2062-
E350C. The thickness of sheet selected was firstly calculated using the relation between
thickness and internal pressure of a cylindrical pressure vessel. GTAW was carried out on this
sheet of dimension (150*100*3) mm using ER 308L, ER316L, ER309L and ER70S-2 filler
wire having 1.6 mm diameter. The GTAW welding process parameter with different filler
wires during first and second pass are given in Table 2 and Table 3 respectively. The chemical
composition of the material was tested using the spectroscopy test. Initially the raw sheet was
cut into smaller sections of (150*100) mm using laser cutter and then were allowed to go
through GTAW process. The welds were obtained in two passes to avoid distortion in the
weld joints. Welding was carried out with tungsten electrode. The base material was kept the
same and with each filler two different weldments were made at two different current
intensity i.e., 85A and 95A respectively. Current intensity for first and second pass were kept
the same. After the first pass of welding, weld was allowed to cool at room temperature. After
second pass and cooling of the joints, three samples were prepared for each filler wire that
were ER 308L, ER316L, ER309L and ER70S-2. The weld samples were cut into pieces for
tensile test, microhardness test (Vickers test) and microstructure analysis. Tensile test was
carried out on the welded samples as per ASTM E8 which was made on EDM-wire machine,
and test was conducted. Welded joints were investigated for microstructure and
microhardness (Vickers test) along the welding direction on the surface of the weld bead.

Sample No. Pass Filler Wire Current (A) Voltage (V) Time (minute)

1 First ER309L 85 9.5 1.04

2 First ER309L 95 9.3 1.01
3 First ER308L 85 9.0 1.10
4 First ER308L 95 9.3 1.02
5 First ER316L 85 8.7 1.30
6 First ER316L 95 8.7 1.18
7 First ER70S2 85 10.1 1.35
8 First ER70S2 95 9.4 1.13

Table 2. Welding process parameter during first pass.

Sample No. Pass Filler Wire Current (A) Voltage (V) Time (minute)

1 Second ER309L 85 9.6 1.33

2 Second ER309L 95 10.3 1.10
3 Second ER308L 85 9.0 1.25
4 Second ER308L 95 9.8 1.28
5 Second ER316L 85 10.6 1.35
6 Second ER316L 95 10.2 1.25
7 Second ER70S2 85 10.4 1.20
8 Second ER70S2 95 10.1 1.27

Table 3. Welding process parameter during second pass.

Laser Cutter EDM-Wire Machine

Fig.2. Machining Setup.

Filler Wires Welded Portion

Fig.3. Material and Filler wires.

Fig.4. Weldments.
References
[1] Gurmeet Kaur, et.al (2014). Effect of Filler Wire Composition on Joining Properties of
GTAW Stainless Steel 202 . In Proceedings of the International Conference on Research and
Innovations in Mechanical Engineering (pp. 191-200). Punjab.
[2] H.Naffakh, et.al (2007). A Comparative Evaluation of Welding Consumables for
Dissimilar Welds between 310 Austenitic Stainless Steel and Inconel 657.
[3] Aishna Mahajan, et.al (2021). Mechanical properties assessment of TIG welded SS 304
joints. Elsevier BV. Mohali.
[4] Cioată, et.al (2022). X-ray analysis of welding parameters influence on pressure vessel
steel P355 N. Journal of Physics: Conference Series.
[5]Nixon Poulose, et.al (2015). Investigation of mechanical properties and microstructure of
GTAW on dissimilar metals. International Journal of Applied Research.
[6] Gurusamy, D., Ranganathan, S., Murthy, P., Ramakrishnan, S. et al., “Mechanical and
Metallurgical Analysis of HSLA Steel for Gas Tungsten Arc Welding with Different Shielding
Gases,” SAE Technical Paper 2019-28-0069, 2019, doi:10.4271/2019-28-0069.
[7]Britto, Joseph et.al (2020). Enhancement of mechanical properties of alloy steel by GTAW
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ID 5118566, 19 pages.
[9]Aravindkumar et.al (2021). Investigations on microstructural characteristics and
mechanical properties of 316 L stainless steel welded joints using nickel coated filler material
by gas tungsten arc welding. Materials Research Express.
[10]Peasura et.al (2017). Investigation of the Effects of Submerged Arc Welding Process
Parameters on the Mechanical Properties of Pressure Vessel Steel ASTM A283 Grade A.
Journal of Engineering.
[11] Reddy et al. (2014). Assessment of Mechanical Properties of AISI 4140 and AISI 316
Dissimilar Weldments. Procedia Engineering, Volume 75, Pages.29-33.