AUGMENTATION OF DEPTH OF PENETRATION AND PRODUCTIVITY BENEFITS OF ATIG WELDS USING THE AHP

Weldability is an important issue in the fabrication of different grades of stainless steel used in industry. Tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding is widely used in industry for accurate and precision work, but lack of penetration is observed in this process even though current and welding speed can be varied considerably to increase heat input to obtain deeper penetration. Increased heat input adversely affects mechanical properties of the weldment. To overcome this, activated flux TIG welding is often used in industry to achieve higher depth of penetration with relatively less heat input. In this study, activated flux TIG welding is used with input variables such as heat input, welding speed and pulse frequency. The chosen base metal is SS 304L stainless steel, and a hybrid flux mixture containing fluxes of SiO2, MnO2 and MoO3 in a ratio of 1:1:2 is used to obtain the desired depth of penetration. Nine experimental runs are conducted to obtain the optimum depth of penetration. Heat input values are 2.767 kJ/mm, 1.470 kJ/mm and 1.281 kJ/mm and pulse frequency is 160 Hz, 120 Hz and 80 Hz. Welding speed varies from 0.5 mm/s to 1.18 mm/s. A maximum depth of penetration of 4.42 mm is achieved with a heat input of 2.767 kJ/mm, welding speed of 0.5 mm/s and pulse frequency of 160 Hz. The reversed Marangoni effect and arc constriction effect are the mechanisms responsible for the deeper penetration in ATIG welding. In this research, a multi criteria decision making tool, the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), is used to validate the optimum value obtained. The optimal values obtained in the research are in good accordance with those obtained using the AHP. The outcome of the present investigation indicates the applicability of ATIG welding for joining large thickness of stainless steel flats to give enhanced productivity by reducing the number of weld passes.