Effect of submerged arc welding process on hardness and impact properties of fabricated SAE 1020 low carbon steel plates

This paper studies the effects of submerged arc welding (SAW) on impact and hardness properties of the low carbon steel plate's in-line with SAE 1020 grade. The test specimen of low carbon steel plates with 10 mm thickness used as base material for preparing joint using submerged arc welding. The impact and hardness properties are investigated using Charpy impact testing machine and Brinells hardness testing machine. The results obtained for testing shows that welded joint of low carbon steel plate have superior hardness and impact strength than the other methods. The reason for better mechanical properties is due to the presence of finer grains in heat affected zone and fusion zone. Welding test samples were tested by varying the three process parameters like welding voltage, current, travel speed and fluxes.