Abstract
The welding of dissimilar armor-grade steels is always challenging due to their carbon equivalent (CE) differences. In this investigation, dissimilar armor-grade steels (rolled homogenous armor (RHA) steels and ultra-high hard armor (UHA) steel) are welded using three electrodes, namely low hydrogen ferritic (LHF), austenitic stainless steel (ASS), and duplex stainless steel (DSS) by shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) process. All the three joints were tested against the 7.62 × 54 mm armor-piercing (AP) projectile. The projectile was wholly stopped at the Weld Metal (WM). Three modes of failures were observed in WM (1) wear debris (WD), (2) wear debris + continuous cracks (WDCC), and (3) fine wear debris + microcracks (FWDMC). The joint fabricated using ASS electrode with the level of failure of WDCC performs better than other joints with the lowest area density of 70 kg/m2 due to the high energy absorption capability of the austenite phase and higher strain hardening properties. At the interface, the martensitic band (MB) increases the hardness and has a vital role in determining ballistic resistance. The impact toughness and ductility of the weld metal play a significant role in deciding the ballistic performance more than hardness and strength properties.
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Abbreviations
- UHA:
-
Ultra-high hard armor
- RHA:
-
Rolled homogenous armor
- Q&T:
-
Quenched and tempered
- BM:
-
Base metal
- WM:
-
Weld metal
- SMAW:
-
Shielded metal arc welding
- GMAW:
-
Gas metal arc welding
- CE:
-
Carbon equivalent
- AFVs:
-
Armor fighting vehicles
- MBTs:
-
Main battle tanks
- ASS:
-
Austenitic stainless steel
- DSS:
-
Duplex stainless steel
- LHF:
-
Low hydrogen ferritic
- SURA:
-
Joints made by SMAW process using ASS electrodes
- SURD:
-
Joints made by SMAW process using DSS electrodes
- SURF:
-
Joints made by SMAW process using LHF electrodes
- UMZ:
-
Unmixed zone
- MB:
-
Martensitic band
- AP:
-
Armor piercing
- FCC:
-
Face centered cubic
- BCT:
-
Body centered tetragonal
- BCC:
-
Body centered cubic
- ISO:
-
International Organization for Standardization
- K-TIG:
-
Keyhole-tungsten inert gas
- HIC:
-
Hydrogen-induced cracking
- HAZ:
-
Heat-affected zone
- WPS:
-
Welding procedure specification
- AWS:
-
American welding society
- WPQR:
-
Welding procedure qualification record
- ASME:
-
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
- DAQ:
-
Data acquisition system
- RT:
-
Radiography testing
- PAUT:
-
Phased array ultrasonic testing
- XRD:
-
X-ray diffraction
- DoP:
-
Depth of penetration
- WoP:
-
Width of penetration
- ASTM:
-
American Society for Testing and Materials
- NSR:
-
Notch strength ratio
- SEM:
-
Scanning electron microscopy
- DF:
-
Delta ferrite
- A:
-
Austenite
- M:
-
Martensite
- B:
-
Bainite
- FGHAZ:
-
Fine grain heat-affected zone
- CGHAZ:
-
Coarse grain heat-affected zone
- OES:
-
Optical emission spectrometer
- FN:
-
Ferrite number
- M s :
-
Martensitic start
- B s :
-
Bainitic start
- WD:
-
Wear debris
- WDCC:
-
Wear debris + continuous cracks
- FWDMC:
-
Fine wear debris + microcracks
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Acknowledgments
The authors wish to record sincere thanks to the Directorate of Extramural Research & Intellectual Property Rights (ERIPR), Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO), Ministry of Defence, Government of India, New Delhi, and Research Innovation Centre (RIC), DRDO, Chennai, for the financial support rendered through an R&D project No: EPIR/EP/RIC/2016/1/M/01/1630. The authors are grateful to the Director, Combat Vehicles Research & Development Establishment (CVRDE), DRDO, Avadi, Chennai, for providing base materials to carry out this investigation. The authors wish to thank the Director, Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory (DMRL), DRDO, Hyderabad, for granting permission to conduct the ballistic test.
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Naveen Kumar, S., Balasubramanian, V., Malarvizhi, S. et al. Effect of Welding Consumables on the Ballistic Performance of Shielded Metal Arc Welded Dissimilar Armor Steel Joints. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 31, 162–179 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-021-06219-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-021-06219-9