Experimental investigation on welding of 2.25 Cr-1.0 Mo steel with regulated metal deposition and GMAW technique incorporating metal-cored wires

The regulated Metal Deposition (RMD™) process is a variant of the gas metal arc welding process (GMAW), which was developed to effectively control the metal transfer in the short-circuiting mode. The process is fundamentally a modified short-circuit GMAW process wherein a uniform droplet deposition, making it easier for the welder to control the puddle and hence achieve an enhanced quality of welded joints. In the present study, the RMD technique has been established for the low alloy steel grade 2.25 Cr - 1.0 Mo particularly for depositing the root pass on a 10 mm thick joint. In addition to this, the RMD technique is attempted with metal-cored wires to enhance the deposition rates and hence productivity. The joint fill-up is further attempted with the GMAW technique using metal-cored wires and analysed. The weldments were subjected to post-weld heat treatment followed by mechanical and metallurgical characterization. Mechanical characterization such as tensile properties, impact properties, bend test as well as all weld tensile properties of the weld joint was evaluated and found to be acceptable. The ductile to brittle transition temperature (DBTT) testing was carried out by breaking series of impact specimen till negative temperatures. The DBTT temperature for the weld joint was found well below −30 °C which indicated the strength and soundness of the welded joint. Optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy was carried out for and favourable results were achieved in microanalysis. The study proposes the use of metal-cored wires for potential applications in the welding of high thickness joints for enhancing the overall productivity.