ROLE OF FCA WELDING PROCESS PARAMETERS ON BEAD PROFILE, ANGULAR AND BOWING DISTORTION OF FERRITIC STAINLESS STEEL SHEETS

Abstract

This paper discusses the influence of flux cored arc welding (FCAW) process parameters such as welding current, travel speed, voltage and CO2 shielding gas flow rate on bead profile, bowing distortion and angular distortion of 409 M ferritic stainless steel sheets of 2 mm thickness. The bowing and angular distortions of the welded plates were measured using a simple device called profile tracer and Vernier bevel protractor respectively. The study revealed that the FCAW process parameters have significant effect on bead profile, and distortion. The relationship between bead profile and distortions were analyzed. Most favorable process parameters that give uniform bead profile and minimum distortion for the weld are recommended for fabrication.

Keywords

• Ferritic stainless steel
• Flux cored arc welding
• Distortion
• Bead profile
• Optimization