Investigation on AISI 304 austenitic stainless steel to AISI 4140 low alloy steel dissimilar joints by gas tungsten arc, electron beam and friction welding

This paper presents the investigations carried out to study the microstructure and mechanical properties of AISI 304 stainless steel and AISI 4140 low alloy steel joints by Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW), Electron Beam Welding (EBW) and Friction Welding (FRW). For each of the weldments, detailed analysis was conducted on the phase composition, microstructure characteristics and mechanical properties. The results of the analysis shows that the joint made by EBW has the highest tensile strength (681 MPa) than the joint made by GTAW (635 Mpa) and FRW (494 Mpa). From the fractographs, it could be observed that the ductility of the EBW and GTA weldment were higher with an elongation of 32% and 25% respectively when compared with friction weldment (19%). Moreover, the impact strength of weldment made by GTAW is higher compared to EBW and FRW.

Research highlights
► Beneficial effects of FRW, GTAW and EBW joints of dissimilar AISI 304 and AISI 4140 materials.
► Comparative study of FRW, GTAW and EBW joints on mechanical properties.
► SEM/EDAX, XRD analysis on dissimilar AISI 304 and AISI 4140 materials.