Research on the Formation, Microstructure, and Properties of 304 Stainless Steel AC-DC Hybrid TIG Welding

Abstract

In this work, a new welding method, AC-DC hybrid TIG welding, is used to weld 304 stainless steel. Research on the formation, microstructure, and properties of 304 stainless-steel welded joints are studied by using optical microscope and microhardness. The results show that the weld with AC/DC hybrid welding is a fish-scale pattern, and the density of the fish-scale pattern increases with the increase of AC proportion. Both the weld penetration and the ratio of weld penetration to weld width are the highest when AC accounts for 30%. At this point, the weld penetration is 0.83 mm larger than DC mode, an increase of 93.26%, and the ratio of weld penetration to weld width is 1.6, which is 76.19% higher than DC mode. When the proportion of AC is increased, the microstructure of the weld is equiaxed or columnar, and the microstructure of the heat-affected zone is ferrite in the form of lath. The hardness of the weld is greater than that of the base metal, and the hardness of the heat-affected zone is the lowest. The microhardness distribution of the weld with AC 50% is the most uniform. When AC accounts for 20% and 30%, the average weld hardness is the highest, which are 196.7 HV and 198.1 HV, respectively.