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Analysis of Electrode Tip Angle Variation on Weld Geometry, Distortion, and Hardness in Commercially Pure Titanium Welded Using Pulsed-Gas Tungsten Arc Welding

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Abstract

Gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) and its variants are esteemed as economically efficient welding methods for welding titanium alloys in the aerospace and nuclear industries. In the present work, the influence of electrode tip angle on weld geometrical elements, distortion, and hardness was investigated in commercially pure titanium (CP-Ti) sheets welded through pulsed-GTAW. Bead-on-plate (BOP) welding was performed on 2 mm thick CP-Ti sheets using electrode tip angles of 30, 45, 60, 75, and 90°. Defect-free welds were obtained by utilizing an indigenously developed shielding setup assembled with p-GTAW machine. The weld geometrical elements were evaluated using metallographic samples of weldment cross section under the stereomicroscope. The findings revealed that as the electrode tip angle increased from 30 to 60°, weld bead width decreased from 6.84 to 5.32 mm. Additionally, the weld penetration initially increased from 1.59 to 1.75 mm up to 60°, but subsequently decreased to 1.51 mm at 90°. Furthermore, increasing the electrode tip angle led to reduction in weld distortion. Microhardness measurements demonstrated an increase in hardness from the base (141 HV0.2) to the weld region (151 HV0.2), with a slight decrease observed in the HAZ (134 HV0.2). This hardness trend across the weldment remained consistent with each electrode tip angle, and higher hardness was observed using large electrode tip angle.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi, Varanasi, 221005, India

    Adarsh Kumar, Mithlesh Kumar Mahto, Meghanshu Vashista & Mohd Zaheer Khan Yusufzai

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  1. Adarsh Kumar
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Kumar, A., Mahto, M.K., Vashista, M. et al. Analysis of Electrode Tip Angle Variation on Weld Geometry, Distortion, and Hardness in Commercially Pure Titanium Welded Using Pulsed-Gas Tungsten Arc Welding. J. of Materi Eng and Perform (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-024-09387-6

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