Metallurgical, wear and fatigue performance of Inconel 625 weld claddings

25 mm thick AISI 304L austenitic stainless steel rolled plates were cladded with single layer Inconel 625 clad beads using Shielded metal arc welding process (SMAW). Different claddings were produced using four levels of welding currents with two types of electrode manipulation techniques (stringer and weaving). Productive clad beads having deposits with greater width and reinforcement with low base metal dilution were achieved using low welding current with electrode weaving technique. Low welding current and electrode weaving combination also resulted into narrowing of the fusion boundary zone. Two body abrasion wear studies carried out on the clad deposits using pin-on-disc technique showed that claddings with low base metal dilution possessed better wear resistance as compared to the claddings with high levels of dilution.High cycle fatigue studies revealed that Inconel 625 overlays having a higher clad content possessed better fatigue strength as compared to those containing a lower clad content. Fractography of the fatigue fractured surfaces using SEM further showed that high fatigue strength of the specimens possessing richer composition of Inconel 625 was indicated by the presence of high density striations.