Mechanical Properties and Microstructural Characterization of Laser Welded S32520 Duplex Stainless Steel

Abstract

This paper investigates an experimental design of laser butt welding of S32520 duplex stainless steel, which has been passed out with the help of a pulsed Nd: YAG laser supply. The intention of the present research is to learn the impact of beam diameter, welding speed, and laser power on the superiority of the butt weld. The individuality of butt joints has been characterized in terms of tensile properties, fractography, and hardness. It was noticed that unbalanced particle orientations indirectly produce a comparatively fragile quality in the laser welded joint. The outcome of varying process parameters and interaction effect of process parameters on ultimate tensile strength and micro hardness were studied through analysis of experimental data. With different process parameters, the heat energy delivered to the material was changed, which was reflected in tensile strength measurement for different welded samples. From this present research, it was shown that, up to a certain level, an increase in process parameters amplified the tensile strength, but after that, certain level tensile strength decreased with the increase in process parameters. When process parameters exceeded that certain level, the required amount of heat energy was not delivered to the material, resulting in low bead width and less penetration, thus producing less strength in the welded joint. Less strength leads to more ductile weld joints. Microhardness was higher in the weld zone than in the base region of welded samples. However, the heat affected zone had a high microhardness range.