This article was downloaded by: [Concordia University Libraries] On: 13 May 2013, At: 02:38 Publisher: Taylor

& Francis Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Materials and Manufacturing Processes

Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/lmmp20

Study of Joint Formed by Tungsten Carbide Bearing Alloy through Microwave Welding
Prateek Gupta , Sudhir Kumar & Ajay Kumar
a a a a

Noida Institute of Engineering and Technology , Gr. Noida , India Accepted author version posted online: 08 Apr 2013.Published online: 03 May 2013.

To cite this article: Prateek Gupta , Sudhir Kumar & Ajay Kumar (2013): Study of Joint Formed by Tungsten Carbide Bearing Alloy through Microwave Welding, Materials and Manufacturing Processes, 28:5, 601-604 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10426914.2013.763966

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.

Materials and Manufacturing Processes, 28: 601604, 2013 Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1042-6914 print=1532-2475 online DOI: 10.1080/10426914.2013.763966

Study of Joint Formed by Tungsten Carbide Bearing Alloy through Microwave Welding
Prateek Gupta, Sudhir Kumar, and Ajay Kumar
Noida Institute of Engineering and Technology, Gr. Noida, India
Microwave welding process is almost in the league of joining the composite materials. But, it is really challenging to align with metals because they reect the microwaves. In this paper, mild steel and stainless steel have been joined by the microwave welding at 2.45 GHz and 900 W. The joint has been formed at 600 sec exposure time. Ni-based powder is used to join the metals. The characterizations of joint have been carried out through microstructural analysis, tensile strength, elongation, and microhardness. The results reveal that the joint formation is clearly visible in microstructure. Tensile strength, elongation, and microhardness are 340.16 MPa, 11.67%, and 130 Hv, respectively.

Downloaded by [Concordia University Libraries] at 02:38 13 May 2013

Keywords Microstructure and mechanical properties; Microwave welding; Mild steel; Ni-based powder; Stainless steel; XRD.

INTRODUCTION Welding is an adaptable process which plays a very important role in almost every eld. There are many other processes of joining and repairing different metallic parts in different industries but welding is the most reliable among them. The demand for quality products has led to the rapid advancement of todays automated manufacturing industry in the present era. The quality of the welded material can be evaluated on the basis of strength, bead geometry, angular distortion, shrinkage, deposition efciency, etc. [1]. These characteristics are inuenced by a number of welding parameters. Therefore, the selection of appropriate welding process parameters is required to obtain the desired weld quality [2]. Numerous welding problems, particularly those concerning welding and repair of industrial components are related to the formation of residual stresses and distortion after fusion welding [3]. Many improvements have been made in the performance and reliability of the equipment, especially in the sphere of power sources. Some major developments have been done in the past few years like the use of microwave [4]. Microwave welding can be performed with relatively inexpensive equipments. It is one of the new methods of joining materials which has not yet been fully explored. It is different from other processes due to ne microstructure and energy saving. Sutton [5] discussed that microwave energy is the advanced technique for sintering the ceramics. The microwave interacts with ceramics directly and provides faster heating. The results revealed that both temperature gradients in the sintering cavity and the feeding speed are the key parameters during continuous
Received October 5, 2012; Accepted December 17, 2012 Address correspondence to Sudhir Kumar, Noida Institute of Engineering and Technology, Gr. Noida 201308, India; E-mail: s_k_tomar02@yahoo.com

microwave sintering for making high quality ceramic products. Sutton [6] stated that microwave welding process has special features, which are not present in the conventional methods. This process is used for joining ceramics. Calame et al. [7] reported that microwave is a complicated method in which electromagnetic waves spread and get absorbed in ceramics materials. Aravindan and Krishnamaurthy [8] analyzed that microwave welding was successfully used to join the aluminum 30% zirconia ceramic composites with the help of glass powder of sodium silicate. The joints=welds were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron micrograph (SEM), Electron Probe MicroAnalysis, microhardness, and the three points bend tests. Ahmad and Siores [9] studied that inverted prole was generated through microwave heating. The author characterized the zirconia-alumina-silica ceramics at high temperatures and also studied the behavior of time and temperature at different power. Srinath et al. [10] formed the copper joint, which was characterized by microstructural elemental analysis, phase analysis, and mechanical properties at different process parameters. The results revealed that joint has uniform microstructure. The hardness, tensile strength, and elongation were 78 Hv, 164 MPa, and 29.91%, respectively. Ananthapadmanaban et al. [11] studied mechanical property variation under different friction welding conditions for mild steel and stainless steel joints. Yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, percentage elongation of the welded joints, and hardness variations across the weld interface has been reported. The integrity of the joints has been investigated, using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Based on the literature review, most of the work is done on ceramics composites due to its microwave absorption nature. Few works have been reported on joining of metals because metals reect the microwave. This is harmful for the magnetron. In this paper, joining 601

602 of mild steel and stainless steel has been carried out. Welds=joints were studied through microstructure, XRD analysis, and mechanical properties. EXPERIMENTAL SECTION Selection of Process Parameters of Microwave Welding Parameters play a drastic role in joining of similar or dissimilar materials. Joining of different materials having different properties is difcult compared to joining similar materials. Exposure Time Various parameters have been selected with the help of pilot experiments. The exposure time is selected to be as 600 sec. Further, if there is an increase in exposure time, it distorts the joining. Thus, time is inversely proportional to tensile strength. Interfacing Material Various interfacing materials such as cast iron powder, nickel sulphate, nickel carbonate, and zinc sulphate were used, but the joint could not be formed successfully. This is due to the presence of less percentage of nickel and the lesser ability between the two faces of metals to couple. Tungsten carbide bearing alloy (EWAC1002 ET) was also used as interfacing materials. It is a Ni-based powder. This material formed a strong joint. Susceptor Charcoal is used as a susceptor medium because it is light in weight, soft, and easily available. It is used to transfer the heat of microwave to metal pieces. Due to this, selective heating takes place. Substrates Mild steel and stainless steel materials were selected for the joining because these materials were widely used in the industries. Experiment was carried out with mild steel and stainless steel having the dimensions, i.e., length (50 mm), width (12 mm), and thickness (3 mm). Table 1 and 2 show the chemical composition and properties of materials. On the basis of pilot experiments and literature review, the following process parameters and their ranges have been selected, which are shown in Table 3. Experimental Setup of Microwave Welding Figure 1 shows the experimental setup of microwave welding. The experiments are carried out using mild steel
TABLE 1.Chemical composition of mild steel and stainless steel.
S. No. C Mn Si Ni Cr

P. GUPTA ET AL.
TABLE 2.Mechanical properties of materials.
Material Property Value

Mild steel Stainless steel Interface powder (EWAC)

Ultimate strength Microhardness Ultimate strength Microhardness Purity Particle size

585 MPa 250 Hv 510 MPa 320 Hv 99% 40 mm

TABLE 3.Process parameters and their ranges.

S. No. Parameters Specication

1 2 3 4 5 6

Interfacing material Frequency of microwave Susceptor Welding time Power Metals

Downloaded by [Concordia University Libraries] at 02:38 13 May 2013

Ni based powder EWAC (95%) Epoxy Resin (5%) 2.45 GHz Charcoal 600 sec 900 W Mild steel and stainless steel

and stainless steel as substrates of dimension length (50 mm), width (12 mm), and thickness (3 mm). Butt form is used for joining two pieces. Tungsten carbide bearing alloy with resin are used as the interfacing material. Now, the pieces are cleaned with acetone and emery paper to avoid unwanted contaminants. After that, the specimen is placed on the table in the microwave. Slurry is applied on the faces, to be joined. Graphite plate is used to separate slurry and charcoal powder. It is used to provide extra heating at a particular place. After applying the slurry between the faces, the specimen is surrounded by the refractory brick as shown in Fig. 1. Refractory bricks are used to avoid direct interaction between the wave and parts. Charcoal starts to burn when it comes in contact with microwaves and thereby the temperature increases at the joint. Resin which is

Mild steel Stainless steel

1.3 0.05

0.5 2

0.2 0.04

0.01 5

0.02 13

FIGURE 1.Experimental setup of microwave welding.

STUDY OF JOINT FORMED BY TUNGSTEN CARBIDE

603

present in the interfacing materials starts heating up as the temperature rises. Thereby the surface of the substrates starts coupling with Ni based powder. Due to this process, the temperature rises at the joining portion. It affects a very thin layer which gets fused with the molten particles in sandwich layer. The substrates faces get completely wet which in turn forces the materials to melt. The molten area turns into a form of weld bead after cooling at atmospheric conditions. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Microstructure Analysis Microstructure of mild steel to stainless steel joints have been fabricated by microwave hybrid heating, which is presented in Figs. 2(a),(b). In Fig. 2(a), the specic joint is clearly visible in the microstructure. A uniform dense joint is formed with very few voids and pores. It is also observed that no cracks are present at the joint surface except a small amount of porosity. The uniform microstructure is achieved through microwave heating. Initially, the charcoal couples with microwaves that lead to rapid heating. A well-bonded microstructure of Ni-based powder with mild steel and stainless steel is the indication of a good joint. Figure 2(b) indicates that the porosity is present in the joint because Ni-based powder does not fuse properly. XRD Analysis The samples were subjected to XRD analysis to identify the phases. The XRD analysis of joint was carried on AXSD-8 Diffractometer with CuKa radiation at IIT Rookee, India. The samples were scanned with a scanning speed of 1.5 Kcps in 2h range of 3090 at 2 =min =min goniometer rotation. The XRD of mild steel to stainless steel joint is shown in Fig. 3. There are three major peaks present in Fig. 3. They are Fe3C, NiSi, and FeNi. These compounds improve the properties of the joints. Most of the Ni-based powder gets oxidized at atmospheric conditions. Nickel oxides in microwave processing facilitate the coupling of microwave with powder, resulting in better joining and rapid heating. These phases are certied to rapid heating of Ni-based powder.

FIGURE 3.XRD of MS-SS joint.

Downloaded by [Concordia University Libraries] at 02:38 13 May 2013

Tensile Strength and Hardness The developed joint is tested on INSTRON Tensile Testing Machine. The specimen is prepared according to ASTM standards with a gauge length of 18 mm and 3.5 mm width. The ultimate tensile strength and percentage elongation are calculated as 340.16 MPa and 11.67%, respectively. The tensile strength of the joint is lower than the base metal. The strength of the joint is 60% of mild steel, while it is 65% of stainless steel. This indicates that microwave process is successfully used to join the mild steel and stainless steel. Measurement of microhardness was carried out on the mild steel and stainless steel joint and base metal by using a load of 10 gm for 30 seconds. The readings were taken at different places. The average microhardness is observed 130 Hv at the joint. There is no much variation in the reading at the joint. Figure 4 shows the Vickerss hardness prole. This is the indication of uniform fusion of the interfacing material. Ananthapadmanaban et al. [11]

FIGURE 2.(a), (b) Microstructure of welded joints (color gure available online).

FIGURE 4.Vickers hardness prole.

604 studied the mechanical strength of MS-SS joints which is fabricated by friction stir welding. The results reveal that the ultimate tensile strength and percentage elongation of the joint is 475 MPa and 5.02%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS The following conclusions are drawn on the basis of the experimental analysis: 1. Microwave hybrid heating is successfully used for joining mild steel and stainless steel. 2. From the analysis of joints, ne microstructure is obtained. Proper fusion of the material takes place. Joint is clearly visible. 3. FeNi, NiSi, and Fe3C are present in the mild steel and stainless steel joint as observed from the XRD. The presence of these compounds improves the properties of joints. 4. The ultimate tensile strength, elongation, and hardness are 340.16 MPa, 11.67%, and 130 Hv, respectively. Further investigation is required to improve the quality of joints. REFERENCES
1. Suresha, C.N.; Rajaprakash, B.M.; Upadhya, S. A study of the effect of tool pin proles on tensile strength of welded joints produced using friction stir welding process. Materials and Manufacturing Processes 2011, 26, 11111116.

P. GUPTA ET AL.
2. Pal, S.; Pal, S.K.; Samantaray, A.K. Determination of optimal pulse metal inert gas welding parameters with a neuro-GA technique. Materials and Manufacturing Processes 2010, 25, 606615. 3. Kohandehghan, A.R.; Serajzadeh, S.; Kokabi, A.H. A study on residual stresses in gas tungsten arc welding of AA5251. Materials and Manufacturing Processes 2010, 25, 12421250. 4. Zhang, Z.; Kong, X. Study on DC double pulse metal inert gas welding of magnesium alloys. Materials and Manufacturing Processes 2012, 27, 462466. 5. Sutton, W.H. Microwave processing of ceramics. American Ceramics Society Bulletin, 1989, 68, 376. 6. Sutton, W.H. Microwave processing of materials. MRS Bulletin 1993, 18, 22. 7. Calame, J.P.; Birman, A.; Carmel, Y.; Gershon, D.; Levush, B.; Sorokin, A.; Senov, V.E.; Dadon, D.; Martin, L.P.; Rosen, M. A dielectric mixing law for porous ceramics based on fractal boundaries. Journal of Applied Physics 1966, 80, 39924000. 8. Aravindan, S.; Krishnamurthy, R. Joining of ceramic composites by microwave heating. Materials Letters 1999, 38, 245249. 9. Ammar, A.; Siores, E. Microwave joining of 48% alumina-32% zirconia-20% silica ceramics. Journal of Material Processing Technology 2001, 118, 8895. 10. Srinath, M.S.; Apurbba, S.K.; Kumar, P. A new approach to joining of bulk copper using microwave energy. Materials and Design 2011, 32, 26852694. 11. Ananthapadmanaban, D.; Rao Seshagiri, V.; Abraham, N.; Rao Prasad, K. A study of mechanical properties of friction welded mild steel to stainless steel joints. Materials and Design 2009, 30, 26422646.

Downloaded by [Concordia University Libraries] at 02:38 13 May 2013