Microstructural and wear properties of mild steel cladded with AISI 316L stainless steel using pulsed current gas metal arc welding process

Abstract The main objective of this study is to study the microstructure and wear resistance of mild steel (MS) of grade IS 2062 that has had an austenitic stainless steel (AISI 316L) coating applied utilizing the pulsed current gas metal arc welding (PC-GMAW) technique. The PC-GMAW method was used to overcome issues with the conventional gas metal arc welding (CC-GMAW) method used for cladding AISI 316L steel over mild steel, such as a larger heat affected zone (HAZ), coarse-grained deposited weld metal microstructure, less penetration depth and higher dilution and reinforcement height. Optical microscopy (OM) was used to examine the microstructural characteristics of the clad region. Using the pin-on-disc testing machine, the wear rate of cladded specimens was recorded, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to examine the morphology of wear surfaces. The microhardness distribution of the cladded region was examined, and the wear characteristics of the cladded specimens were correlated. According to the findings, PC-GMAW cladding is harder and more resistant to wear than a mild steel substrate. The PC-GMAW cladding exhibited higher weld metal deposition and lower dilution. Weld overlay hardness was 15.83% higher in the PC-GMAW cladding than in the mild steel substrate. The wear rate was decreased by an average of 20.18% as compared to the mild steel substrate with PC-GMAW cladding.