Materials and Design 32 (2011) 36173623

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Materials and Design

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Technical Report

Effect of heat input on the microstructure and mechanical properties of gas

tungsten arc welded AISI 304 stainless steel joints
Subodh Kumar, A.S. Shahi
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering & Technology, Longowal, Sangrur, Punjab 148 106, India

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 20 October 2010
Accepted 7 February 2011
Available online 3 March 2011

a b s t r a c t
Inuence of heat input on the microstructure and mechanical properties of gas tungsten arc welded 304
stainless steel (SS) joints was studied. Three heat input combinations designated as low heat (2.563 kJ/
mm), medium heat (2.784 kJ/mm) and high heat (3.017 kJ/mm) were selected from the operating window of the gas tungsten arc welding process (GTAW) and weld joints made using these combinations
were subjected to microstructural evaluations and tensile testing so as to analyze the effect of thermal
arc energy on the microstructure and mechanical properties of these joints. The results of this investigation indicate that the joints made using low heat input exhibited higher ultimate tensile strength (UTS)
than those welded with medium and high heat input. Signicant grain coarsening was observed in the
heat affected zone (HAZ) of all the joints and it was found that the extent of grain coarsening in the heat
affected zone increased with increase in the heat input. For the joints investigated in this study it was also
found that average dendrite length and inter-dendritic spacing in the weld zone increases with increase
in the heat input which is the main reason for the observable changes in the tensile properties of the weld
joints welded with different arc energy inputs.
2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Austenitic stainless steels have been used widely by the fabrication industry owing to their excellent high temperature and corrosion resistance properties. Some of the typical applications of these
steel include their use as nuclear structural material for reactor
coolant piping, valve bodies, vessel internals, chemical and process
industries, dairy industries, petrochemical industries etc. Out of
300 series grade of these steels type 304 SS is extensively used in
industries due to its superior low temperature toughness and corrosion resistance. One of the typical applications of type 304 SS include storing and transportation of liqueed natural gas (LNG),
whose boiling point is 162 C under 1 atmosphere.
A study on fatigue crack growth rate for type 304 SS over a temperature range from room to 162 C has shown that base metal
possesses superior resistance to crack growth relative to weld metals over the entire temperature range [1]. Another typical application of this material includes its use as bellows used as conduit for
liquid fuel and oxidizer in propellant tank of satellite launch vehicle [2].
Chen et al. [3] found that when CuSi enriched type 304 SS
(containing 22.5 wt.% copper and 11.5 wt.% silicon) and a conventional type 304 SS was welded using gas metal arc welding
(GMAW), process ductility decreased and ferrite levels increased
Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 1672 253272; fax: +91 1672 280057.
E-mail address: ashahisliet@yahoo.co.in (A.S. Shahi).
0261-3069/$ - see front matter 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.matdes.2011.02.017

in both weldments, as the heat input was increased. A comparative

study by Yan et al. [4] on the microstructure and mechanical properties of 304 SS joints by tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding, laser
welding and laser-TIG hybrid welding showed that laser welding
could give highest tensile strength and smallest dendrite size in
all joints whereas TIG welding gave lowest tensile strength and
biggest dendrite size. Work reported by Muthupandi et al. [5] on
the effect of weld chemistry and heat input on the structure and
properties of duplex stainless steel welds using autogenous-TIG
and electron beam welding process shows that chemical composition exerts a greater inuence on the ferriteaustenite ratio than
the cooling rate. Jana [6] has reported the effect of varying heat inputs on the properties of the HAZ of two different duplex steels and
found that as arc energy increased hardness of both weld metal
and the HAZ decreased, whereas width of the HAZ increased with
increased arc energies. Study on the inuence of welding heat
input on submerged arc welding (SAW) welded duplex steel joints
imperfections has been reported by Nowacki et al. [7] where heat
input from 2.5 to 4.0 kJ/mm was used for plate thickness of
1023 mm and it was concluded that usage of larger welding heat
input provided the best joints quality.
Zumelzu et al. [8] studied the mechanical behaviour of AISI
316L welded joints using shielded metal arc welding (SMAW)
and GMAW process with different electrodes types. Their work
concludes that a direct correlation exists between the thermal contribution and tensile strength for the materials studied. The effects
of minor elements and shielding gas on the penetration of TIG

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S. Kumar, A.S. Shahi / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 36173623

understanding about the metallurgical aspects that affect the service performance of these welded joints made using different heat
input combinations.

welding in type 304 SS have been studied using bead on plate

experimentation technique and it is concluded that minor elements such as oxygen, aluminium and sulfur have a signicant effect on the weld depth to width ratio [9]. Experimental
investigations on the effect of hydrogen in argon as a shielding
gas in TIG welding of austenitic stainless steel show that mean
grain size in the weld metal increases with increasing hydrogen
content besides increasing the weld metal penetration depth and
its width [10]. Lu et al. [11] have reported in their experimental results that small addition of oxygen content to the HeAr mixed
shielding can signicantly change the weld shape from a wide
shallow type to a narrow deep one.
Lee et al. [12] have reported in their studies on effects of strain
rate and failure behaviour of 304L SS SMAW weldments and nd
that as the strain rate increases, the ow stress increases and the
fracture strain decreases. Korino et al. [13] have reviewed the considerations for weldability of 304L SS and recommend Creq to Nieq
ratio of 1.521.9 to control the primary mode of solidication. Lee
et al. [14] while investigating the pitting corrosion behaviour of
welded joints of AISI 304L using ux cored arc welding (FCAW)
process found that tensile and yield strengths were increased with
increasing equivalent ratio of Creq/Nieq. Milad et al. [15] found that
yield and tensile strengths of 304 SS increased gradually at the
same rate with increasing degree of cold work. Shyu et al. [16] have
investigated the effect of oxide uxes on weld morphology, arc
voltage, mechanical properties, angular distortion and hot cracking
susceptibility of autogenous TIG bead on plate welds. Their results
indicate that penetration is signicantly increased which in turn
increases depth to bead-width ratio and tends to reduce angular
distortion.
Other studies which show that 304 SS and 304L SS grade has
been the topic of research of many researchers include various
studies like experimental determination of grain boundary composition of 304 SS in low temperature sensitization condition using a
scanning Auger microprobe [17], measuring chromium depletion
after various thermal heat treatments [18], modelling of low temperature sensitization of austenitic stainless steel [19], studying
sensitization behaviour of grain boundary engineered austenitic
stainless steel [20], arresting weld decay in 304 SS by twin-induced
grain boundary engineering [21] etc.
From the literature reviewed on the material processing of 304
SS it is observed that no systematic work on the effect of heat input
on microstructure and tensile properties of gas tungsten arc (GTA)
welded has been reported. In view of the fact that arc welding processes like GTAW offer a wide spectrum of thermal energy for joining different thicknesses of steels it was considered important that
undertaking the present study would be benecial in gaining an

2. Experimental details
2.1. Base and ller material combination
The base material used in the present investigation was in the
form of AISI 304 SS plates of sizes 200 mm  100 mm  6 mm
which were cut from a rolled sheet and the ller was 308 SS solid
electrode of 3.15 mm diameter. Table 1 shows the chemical composition of the base and the ller used.
2.2. Welding procedure
In the present work double V-groove design was used so that
welding could be accomplished in two numbers of passes ensuring
full penetration. Before welding all the edges were thoroughly
cleaned mechanically and chemically in order to avoid any source
of contamination like rust, scale, dust, oil, moisture etc. that could
creep into the weld metal and later on, could result possibly into a
weld defect. After tacking the plates together the rst weld pass
was given using GTAW process with welding conditions as mentioned in Table 2 and prior to giving of second pass an interpass
temperature of around 150 C was maintained. No preheat or post
heat treatment was given to the specimens. Although GTAW process was used in the manual mode, still utmost care was taken during recording of the arc on time so as to facilitate calculations of
welding speed for heat input calculations. It is worth mentioning
here that the best welding practice available in the fabrication
industry was used in the present work.
It is a well established fact that among all the welding variables
in arc welding processes welding current is the most inuential
variable since it affects the current density and thus the melting
rate of the ller as well as the base material. So in accordance with
this fundamental fact three different heat input combinations corresponding to different welding currents i.e. 120 A (low heat input), 150 A (medium heat input) and 180 A (high heat input)
combinations were selected for the present study. The reason for
using these specic welding current values was twofold rstly, this
spectrum of heat input combinations results in arc energies which
are sufcient to cause adequate fusion of the base and weld metal
selected for the present study and secondly, a step increase of 30A
was anticipated to be sufcient enough to cause a direct and significant inuence on the microstructure and tensile properties of the

Table 1
Chemical composition (wt.%) of the base metal and ller used.
Alloy element

Si

Mn

Cr

Ni

Fe

Base (304 SS)

Filler (ER 308 SS)

0.06
0.08

0.42
1.0

1.89
1.59

0.032
0.045

0.014
0.03

18.67
18.15

8.53
10.02

Balance
Balance

Table 2
Process parameters used for fabricating butt welded joints.
Specimen no.

Pass

Current (A)

Voltage (V)

Average welding
speed (mm/s)

Average heat input per unit

length per pass (kJ/mm)

Total heat input per unit length

of the weld (kJ/mm)

A (low heat)

First
Second
First
Second
First
Second

120
120
150
150
180
180

30
30
35
35
40
40

2.252
2.243
3.030
3.003
3.846
3.787

1.280
1.283
1.386
1.398
1.497
1.520

2.563

B (medium heat)
C (high heat)

2.784
3.017

S. Kumar, A.S. Shahi / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 36173623

3619

tested on a servo hydraulically controlled digital tensile testing

machine of 400 kN capacity.
2.5. Metallography

Fig. 1. Photograph showing the base plates in the as welded condition at different
heat inputs.

welded joints. During and after welding the joints were visually inspected for their quality and it was ensured that all weld beads
possessed good geometrical consistency and were free from visible
defects like surface porosity, blow holes etc. Fig. 1 shows the plates
in the as welded condition using different heat inputs. Other details related to the process and procedures used in the present
work include:Type and size of the non-consumable for the joints investigated
in this study tungsten electrode = EW-Th-2 (Thoriated tungsten) of
3 mm diameter, Shielding gas ow rate of industrially pure Argon = 15 L/min, Electrode to work angle = 45, Polarity = DC electrode positive.
2.3. Specimen sampling

In order to observe the microstructural changes that take place

during welding, corresponding to each heat input combination,
specimens were machined out from the weld pads as shown in
Fig. 2. After polishing and macroetching the cross sections of the
joints were captured with the help of Image analysis software coupled with a stereozoom microscope at a magnication of 10 to
facilitate measuring of the details like cross sectional areas of the
fusion zone and HAZ. Standard polishing procedures were used
for general microstructural observations [23]. An electrolytic oxalic
acid etch was used with the conditions (Electrolyte used: Oxalic
acid (10 g) + distilled water (100 mL), Cell voltage: 6 V, Etching
time: 1 min).
Microstructures of different zones of interest like weld metal,
HAZ and fusion boundary under different heat input combinations
were viewed and captured with an optical microscope coupled
with an image analyzing software. Microhardness of different
zones of the weldments was measured using Vickerss micro hardness testing machine with a load of 0.5 kg. Fractured ends of the
tensile tested specimens were analyzed using Scanning electron
microscopy (SEM) to assess the nature of the fracture mode.
3. Results and discussion

The specimens for tensile testing, micro hardness testing and

microstructural studies were taken from the weld pads as schematically illustrated in Fig. 2.
2.4. Tensile test
Three specimens per heat input combinations, were machined
out from the weld pads as mentioned in Fig. 2. Each tensile specimen size was prepared in accordance with ASTM E08 standards
[22] as illustrated schematically in Fig. 3. The specimens were

3.1. Metallographic studies

Full penetration welds were obtained in all the three combinations of heat input as shown in Fig. 4. Measured areas of fusion
zone and HAZ of different weldments are shown in Table 3. As indicated by these values it is found that as heat input increases the fusion areas of the joints also increase proportionately. The same
trend is followed for the HAZ area associated with each of these
joints. Yan [4] and Jana [6] have reported similar trends while
studying TIG welded 304 SS and SMAW welded duplex SS respec-

Fig. 2. Schematic illustration of the specimen sampling from the weld pads.

Fig. 3. Specications of the tensile specimen used in the present work.

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S. Kumar, A.S. Shahi / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 36173623

Fig. 4. Stereozoom images showing the cross sections of the weld joints at different heat inputs (a) low heat (b) medium heat (c) high heat (10).

Table 3
Macro and microstructural details of the weld joints.
Heat input

Low
Medium
High
Base metal

Tensile properties

Macrostructural details (Cross sectional area)

Microstructural details

Ultimate
tensile
strength (MPa)

Percentage
elongation
(%)

Fusion zone with

reinforcement
(mm2)

Fusion zone without

reinforcement
(mm2)

HAZ area
(mm2)

Dendrite length in
the weld zone (lm)

Interdendrite
spacing (lm)

657.32
639.45
622.8
610.8

24.28
22.85
21.42
38.57

36.74
38.86
43.02

21.68
23.57
26.29

12.83
14.79
16.24

111.10
151.75
201.14

10.29
15.42
22.87

tively, that fusion zone and HAZ area increase with increase in heat
input.
Optical micrographs showing the microstructures of weld zone,
fusion boundary and HAZ for different heat input combinations are
presented from Figs. 57. The measured values of dendrite lengths
and inter-dendritic spacings for these joints are mentioned in Table

Location of
fracture

Joint
efciency (%)

Base metal
Base metal
Base metal

107.61
104.69
101.96

3. It is observed from these optical micrographs that as heat input

increases the dendrite size and inter-dendritic spacing in the weld
metal also increase. This dendrite size variation can be attributed
to the fact that at low heat input, cooling rate is relatively higher
due to which steep thermal gradients are established in the weld
metal, which in turn allow lesser time for the dendrites to grow,

FB

HAZ

Fig. 5. Optical micrograph showing the microstructure of (a) weld metal (b) fusion boundary and HAZ (low heat, at 100).

FB
HAZ

Fig. 6. Optical micrograph showing the microstructure of (a) weld metal (b) fusion boundary and HAZ (medium heat, at 100).

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S. Kumar, A.S. Shahi / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 36173623

HAZ
FB

Fig. 7. Optical micrograph showing the microstructure of (a) weld metal (b) fusion boundary and HAZ (high heat, at 100).

whereas at high heat input, cooling rate is slow which provides

ample time for the dendrites to grow farther into the fusion zone.

Low heat
Medium heat
High heat

280
270

3.2. Microhardness

Low heat
Medium heat
High heat

250

Vicker hardness (HV0.5)

240
230
220
210
200
190
180
170
160

-4

-3

-2

-1

Distance from the weld centre (mm)

Fig. 8. Microhardness prole showing micro hardness at different points in the
weld metal at different heat inputs.

Vicker hardness (HV0.5 )

260

Microhardness measurements were taken in two directions

rstly in the transverse direction i.e. perpendicular to the base
plate surface and secondly, in the longitudinal direction i.e. parallel
to the base plate surface and the same are shown in Figs. 8 and 9
respectively. Fig. 8 shows that the micro hardness near the top of
the weld bead surface is high and as the centre of the fusion/weld
zone is approached by the indentor it gradually reduces, which is
due to the fact that cooling rate is relatively higher at the top of
the weld bead surface than at the centre of the weld metal. From
Fig. 9 it is observed that as the indentor traverses outwards (parallel to the base plate surface) from the centre of the weld/fusion
zone towards the fusion boundary, micro hardness increases from
205.5 to 228.8 VHN for low heat input, 194.0210.2 VHN for medium heat and 181.1197.4 VHN for high heat input welded joint.
Fusion boundary or transition zone encountered while traversing
in this direction is indicated by a steep rise in the micro hardness
with value of 272.4 VHN, 262.6 VHN and 251.6 VHN respectively
for low, medium and high heat input respectively. High hardness
as possessed by the fusion boundary zone (FBZ) in all the joints
can be attributed to the presence of partially unmelted grains at
the fusion boundary which are partially adopted as nuclei by the
new precipitating phase of the weld metal during the solidication

250
240
230
220
210
200
190
180
170
160
150

-10

-8

-6

-4

-2

10

Distance from the weld centre (mm)

Fig. 9. Microhardness prole showing micro hardness of different zones of the
weldments at different heat inputs.

stage. After reaching this peak value micro hardness shows a

decreasing trend in the HAZ. In all the joints, HAZ area adjacent
to the fusion boundary was coarse grained HAZ (CGHAZ) which
possessed low hardness whereas the HAZ area adjacent to the base
metal was ne grained HAZ (FGHAZ) which possessed high hardness. The reason for this trend of micro hardness in the HAZ of
all the joints is that the area adjacent to the weld/fusion zone experiences relatively slow cooling rate and hence has coarse grained
microstructure, whereas the area adjoining the base metal undergoes high cooling rate due to steeper thermal gradients and consequently has ne grained microstructure. This is evident from the
trend depicted by the micro hardness prole within the HAZ of
each of these joints.
In general it is observed from these micro hardness studies that
hardness follows an increasing trend in the order of weld metal,
HAZ, unaffected base metal and fusion boundary for all the joints
made at different heat inputs. It is also observed that there is signicant grain coarsening in the HAZs of all the joints. Further it
is observed from the optical micrographs shown from Fig. 5b7b
that the extent of grain coarsening in the HAZ increases with increase in heat input.
3.3. Tensile properties
The transverse tensile strength of all the joints made using different heat input conditions has been evaluated. In each condition

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S. Kumar, A.S. Shahi / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 36173623

three specimens were tested and the average tensile strength of

three specimens per heat input and their corresponding percentage elongations thus obtained is mentioned in Table 3. The tensile
results so obtained show that maximum tensile strength of
657.32 MPa is possessed by the specimens made using low heat input combination followed by 639.45 MPa using medium heat input
and 622.8 MPa using high heat input combination. Table 3 shows
the microstructural details of the weld metal in terms of dendrite
size and cell spacing, which indicates that high tensile strength
and ductility is possessed by the joints at low heat input, which
can be attributed to smaller dendrite sizes and lesser inter-dendritic spacing in the fusion zone. Relatively lower tensile strength
and ductility is possessed by the joints with long dendrite sizes
and large inter-dendritic spacing in the fusion zone of the joint
welded using high heat input. Further it is found that all the tensile

specimens fractured in the base metal as shown in Fig. 10

which indicates that weld metal in all the joints possessed higher
tensile strength than the base metal and thus joint efciencies [dened as (UTSweldjoint)/(UTSbasemetal)  100] of 107.61%, 104.69% and
101.96% were achieved for low, medium and high heat input combination respectively.
The fractured surfaces of the tensile specimens were analyzed
using SEM. Figs. 1113 show the SEM fractographs of all the joints
tensile tested. Dimples of varying size and shape were observed in
all the fractured surfaces which indicate that major fracturing
mechanism was ductile. From Fig. 11 it is observed that fractured
surface of the specimen at low heat input contains a large population of small and shallow dimples which is indicative of its relatively high tensile strength and ductility. From Figs. 12 and 13 it
is observed that as heat input increases coarse and elongated dim-

Fig. 10. Photograph of the tensile tested specimens showing the location of fracture in the base metal (a) low heat (b) medium heat (c) high heat input.

Fig. 11. SEM fractograph of the tensile specimen welded at low heat input (a) at 1000 (b) at 2000.

Fig. 12. SEM fractograph of the tensile specimen welded at medium heat input (a) at 1000 (b) at 2000.

S. Kumar, A.S. Shahi / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 36173623

3623

Fig. 13. SEM fractograph of the tensile specimen welded at high heat input (a) at 1000 (b) at 2000.

ples are observed. It is also observed that small dimples are surrounded by the large ones in all the specimens and a small quantity
of tearing ridge is also present. A similar fractograph observation
has been reported for 3 mm thick TIG welded 304 SS where relatively minor size dimples surround coarse dimples besides the
presence of small quantity of tearing ridge [4].
4. Conclusions
The following conclusions can be drawn from the present
work: Good joint strength is exhibited by all the joints which show
that for welding 6 mm thick AISI 304 SS the operating envelope
of GTAW process offers a wide range of parameters to the
fabricator.
 As the dendrite size in the fusion zone is smaller in low heat
input joints than the dendrites in medium and high heat input
joints, it is found that maximum tensile strength and ductility is
possessed by the weld joints made using low heat input.
 As heat input increases, the fusion zone and HAZ area also
increase. Signicant grain coarsening is found in the HAZs of
all the joints. It is also observed that the extent of grain coarsening increases with increasing heat input.
 Near to the fusion boundary the size of the grains in the HAZ of
the joints is found to be relatively coarser at high heat input and
ner at low heat input.
Based upon the present study it is recommended that low heat
input should be preferred when welding AISI 304SS using GTAW
process because of the reason that besides giving good tensile
strength and ductility, the size of the HAZ and the extent of grain
coarsening obtained in these weld joints is less.
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