Effect of welding current on microstructure, hardness and wear resistance of hardfacing deposit on carbon steel

Engineering components during service are exposed to destructive phenomena such as wear which may lead to their destruction. For their protection and reduction of costs of replacement of these defective components and also increasing productivity, attention is given to welding processes for depositing a wear-resistant layer on the components. In this research, the effect of welding current on last layer weld quality deposited on carbon steel by shielded metal arc welding process using Fe-based hardfacing electrodes is investigated. The chemical composition of the weld deposit layers was studied by quantometery. Optical and scanning electron microscopes, energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction were used for microstructural studies. Microhardness and pin on disk wear tests were also employed for microhardness and wear resistance evaluations. The metallography and X-ray diffraction results show presence of martensite and retained austenite in the microstructure of the last deposited weld layer. The results of chemical analysis and microhardness and wear-resistant tests show that increasing the current increases weld dilution which leads to reduction of alloying elements affecting hardness and wear resistance of the weld deposit and hence these properties decrease slightly. Evaluation of the worn surfaces shows that the wear mechanism on the last deposited layer is of abrasive wear type.