Experimental investigation on similar and dissimilar alloys of stainless steel joints by laser beam welding

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ABSTRACT

Alloy and Stainless steel plates have to be welded to meet the present generation of smart manufacturing by Laser Beam Welding. Laser Beam Welding (LBW) plays an important role in joining of metals or welding the parts of similar/dissimilar metals. Due to its high-speed weldability with high laser beam power result in high strength and low heat affected zones with better appearance and quality. AISI Stainless steels which are widely used in various industries due to their resistance to corrosion. There is often a need to study the effect of process parameters, while fabricating stainless steel structures and/or when weld stainless steel to low-alloy steels. A solemn attempt is made in the present research work to join similar and dissimilar AISI 4130 Alloy and AISI 309 Stainless Steel joints by CO₂ Laser Beam Welding with an objective to investigate the effects of process parameters. The weld joints are studied based on their Bead Width and Micro Hardness. The performance characteristic curves are drawn and analysed the influence of the process parameters on the weld joints. The Whale Optimisation Algorithm is used to identify the optimal combination of process parameters based on the experimental output results of Bead Width and Micro Hardness.

KEYWORDS:

• Laser beam welding
• alloy steel
• stainless steel
• bead width
• micro hardness
• ANOVA
• Whale Optimisation Algorithm

Disclosure statement

The authors acknowledge the assistance and support provided by the manufacturing Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, SVU College of Engineering, Tirupati and also thankful to M/S. Magod Laser Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru for permitting to carryout the research work in their Laboratory.