Performance of activated TIG process in austenitic stainless steel welds

Five kinds of oxide fluxes, MnO2, TiO2, MoO3, SiO2, and Al2O3, were used to investigate the effect of activated tungsten inert gas (activated TIG) process on weld morphology, angular distortion, delta-ferrite content, and hardness of Type 316L stainless steels. An autogenous TIG welding was applied to 6 mm thick stainless steel plates through a thin layer of flux to produce a bead-on-plate welded joint. The oxide fluxes used were packed in powdered form. The experimental results indicated that the SiO2 flux facilitated root pass joint penetration, but Al2O3 flux led to the deterioration in the weld depth and bead width compared with conventional TIG process. Activated TIG welding can increase the joint penetration and weld depth-to-width ratio, thereby reducing angular distortion of the weldment. On the basis of the present results, it is considered that the centripetal Marangoni convection and constricted arc plasma as a mechanism in increasing the penetration of activated TIG joint.