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“Investigation on un-peened and laser shock peened Weldment of Inconel
600 fabricated by ATIG welding proce...

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 Materials Science & Engineering A 690 (2017) 405–417

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Materials Science & Engineering A

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/msea

Investigation on un-peened and laser shock peened weldment of Inconel MARK

600 fabricated by ATIG welding process
⁎
G. Chandrasekara, , C. Kailasanathanb, Dhanesh Kant Vermac
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, PSNA College of Engineering and Technology, Dindigul 624622, Tamilnadu, India
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sethu Institute of Technology, Virudhunagar District, Kariapatti 626115, Tamilnadu, India
c
Welding Research Institute, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Thiruchirappalli 620014, Tamilnadu, India

A R T I C L E I N F O A BS T RAC T

Keywords: The present investigation articulates the joining of Inconel 600 plates using activated tungsten inert gas (ATIG)
Inconel 600 welding process. Before joining of Inconel 600 plates, welding parameters have been optimized and suitable flux
ATIG welding has been selected to produce complete weld penetration in a single pass welding. The various mechanical and
Laser shock peening metallurgical characterizations were performed on the un-peened ATIG (UP-ATIG) weldment. The experi-
Optimization
mental results attested that the tensile failure occurred in the weld zone and also the tensile strength is lower
Activating flux
than the base metal (BM) because of coarser grain structures and tensile residual stresses in the weld zone.
Compressive residual stresses
Laser shock peening (LSP) was carried out on the welded joint to enhance its properties. After LSP treatment,
the significant improvement was observed in the laser peened ATIG (LP-ATIG) weldment and the fracture
occurred at the parent metal side owing to the compressive residual stresses developed by LSP. Residual stress
measurements indicated that the compressive residual stresses were higher at the surface and they decrease
with increasing depth.

1. Introduction deeper penetration with a reduced heat affected zone [8–10]. Kuang-
Hung Tseng et al., [11] used five different kinds of oxide fluxes such as
Inconel 600 is a high nickel – chromium – iron alloy which has MnO2, TiO2, MoO3, SiO2, and Al2O3 in the ATIG welding process and
widespread applications in chemical, aeronautical and nuclear indus- studied their effect on weld morphology and distortion of AISI 316L
tries [1–4]. The evaporator tubes, flaking trays, heaters used in stainless steel. The authors reported that SiO2, MoO3 fluxes showed
chemical industry and lock wires, exhaust liners, turbine seals used better results in the weld penetration and the depth to width ratio.
in an aeronautical industry are made up of Inconel 600 because of its S.W. Shyu et al., [7] examined the effect of Al2O3, Cr2O3, TiO2, SiO2
high strength, high resistance against corrosion and greater workability and CaO flux on stainless steel 304 plate of 5 mm thick using ATIG
[5]. The high nickel content of the alloy gives excellent resistance to the welding process. The authors revealed that the Cr2O3, TiO2, SiO2 fluxes
corrosion and the presence of high chromium content offers oxidation had significant effect on the depth of penetration, but the Al2O3 and
resistance to the alloy at high temperatures [6]. CaO fluxes deteriorated the weld penetration and showed no effect on
Nowadays, most of the structural constructions have welded joints penetration of the weld respectively. The authors further stated that the
that are made by a proper welding technique. Recently, an activated TiO2, Cr2O3 and SiO2 fluxes have the capability to reduce the hot
tungsten inert gas (ATIG) welding process received an attraction from cracking susceptibility as well as the angular distortion of the weld-
the structural fabricators due to its high productivity and capability to ment. K. Devendranath Ramkumar et al., [12] studied the weldability,
weld thicker sections with less heat affected zone. The United States mechanical and metallurgical properties of Inconel 718 plate using
navy joining center have been using ATIG welding process successfully SiO2 and TiO2 fluxes in ATIG welding process. The authors found that
to manufacture their navy ships and aircraft for the past few decades both the fluxes affect the weld morphology significantly and the TiO2
[7]. In the ATIG welding process, before welding, fine particles of oxide flux – assisted weldment result in better ultimate tensile strength than
flux/fluxes in the form of paste is applied on the base metal (BM) which the SiO2 flux weldment.
constricts the welding arc towards center of the weld pool and changes Chunli yang et al., [13] investigated the mechanism for an enrich-
the fluid flow patterns by altering the surface tension gradients to make ment of weld penetration using SiO2 and TiO2 fluxes in ATIG welding

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: gopalsamychandrasekar@gmail.com, chandruslm1987@yahoo.com (G. Chandrasekar), uthrakailash@yahoo.co.in (C. Kailasanathan),
dkverma@bheltry.co.in (D.K. Verma).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2017.03.008
Received 2 February 2017; Accepted 3 March 2017
Available online 06 March 2017
0921-5093/ © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
G. Chandrasekar et al. Materials Science & Engineering A 690 (2017) 405–417

Table 1
Chemical composition of the base metal.

Chemical composition (% by weight)

Base Metal Ni Cr Fe Si Mn Al Ti Ta C Co Other elements

INCONEL 600 76.8 13.68 7.91 0.376 0.375 0.240 0.2 0.137 0.0920 0.0640 Mo-0.0460; Nb-0.029; Mg-0.0290; Ca-0.02; V-0.011; Cu-0.00750; P-0.006; S-
0.004.

Table 2
Process parameters employed for the bead on plate welding.

Parameters Code Unit Levels

1 2 3

Current A A 100 110 120

Welding Speed B mm/min 80 90 100

Fig. 2. Kemppi master TIG MLS 4000 welding machine with automatic torch travel
setup.

Fig. 1. Scheme of experimentation.

process. The authors reported that the SiO2 flux constricts the arc
plasma as well as changes the surface tension gradient towards the
weld center and the TiO2 flux increases the penetration due to the
change of surface tension gradient. Her-Yueh Huang [14] reported that
the ATIG welding parameters influence the performance of activating
flux to a greater extent and hence the optimization of welding
parameters is important in order to achieve superior mechanical
properties of the joint. G. Magudeeswaran et al., [15] investigated the
influence of ATIG welding process parameters of UNS S32205 duplex
stainless steel welds and reported that the optimized parameters are
required to attain sound weld.
Many researchers [16–20] investigated the effect of various welding
parameters on the weld properties and reported that the process
variables are the key factors for the weld strength and weld morphol-
ogy. However, the identification of optimal welding condition that can
produce an admirable weld joint is a challenging task for the
manufacturers. Generally, the welding parameters are identified based
on a trial and error method which has some disadvantages like more
time consumption, material loss, and the obtained result may be Fig. 3. Bead on plate weld of Inconel 600 plate using autogeneous TIG welding.

optimal or close to the optimal [21]. To predict the optimal welding

parameters, various optimization methods are available. Among the In the fusion welding technique, heat input has a significant effect
methods, Taguchi orthogonal array is more extensively used by the on the mechanical and the metallurgical properties of welded joint
researchers because of its simple design and fewer experimental trails [23,24]. Jun seok kim et al., [25] reported that the welding heat input
[22]. must be controlled during welding of Inconel alloy to avoid Cr carbide

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G. Chandrasekar et al. Materials Science & Engineering A 690 (2017) 405–417

Fig. 4. Macroscopic results of the autogeneous TIG bead on plate studies.

precipitation at the grain boundaries. Agilan et al., [26] investigated the Laser shock peening (LSP) is a versatile process to improve
welding of Inconel 718 and reported that the heat input affects the mechanical properties of the metals such as strength, wear resistance
depth to width ratio as well as the microstructure of fusion zone and and corrosion resistance [28,29]. The LSP technique utilizes high
heat affected zone. K. Devendranath Ramkumar et al., [27] reported energy laser beam for surface and sub-surface property modifications.
that the optimized heat input is necessary to produce a weld with In this method, laser beam produces high-pressure plasma on the
beneficial properties. metal surface and creates shock waves. These shock waves induce

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G. Chandrasekar et al. Materials Science & Engineering A 690 (2017) 405–417

Table 3
Experimental results of the autogeneous TIG bead on plate studies.

Trail no. Parameters Responses Computed values

Welding Current (A) Voltage (V) Welding Speed (mm/min) Depth of penetration (mm) Bead width (mm) S/N ratio (dB) Heat Input (KJ/mm)

1 100 10.5 80 1.383 5.613 2.81644 1.050

2 110 11.5 80 2.167 7.428 6.71718 1.265
3 120 12 80 2.686 8.152 8.58212 1.440
4 100 10.5 90 1.294 5.873 2.23869 0.933
5 110 11.5 90 1.680 6.874 4.50619 1.124
6 120 12 90 2.079 7.018 6.35709 1.280
7 100 11 100 1.093 5.453 0.77240 0.880
8 110 11.5 100 1.579 6.276 3.96764 1.012
9 120 12.5 100 2.210 7.314 6.88785 1.200
Average 4.76062

Table 4 Emission Spectroscopic (AES) test was conducted on the sample taken
Response data of S/N ratio for weld penetration. (Larger is better). from the as-received plate and the results are shown in Table 1. The
three different fluxes namely SiO2, TiO2 single component fluxes and
Level S/N ratio
the compound flux of 50% SiO2+50% TiO2 were used in this investiga-
Current (A) Speed (mm/min) tion.
Earlier to the welding, the received plate was dimensioned to
1 1.943 6.039 200 mm long×60 mm wide×5 mm thick using Electrical Discharge
2 5.064 4.367
3 7.276 3.876
Machining (EDM) and buffing followed by cleaning with acetone to
Delta 5.333 2.163 remove the surface impurities of the samples. Fig. 1 depicts the scheme
Rank 1 2 of experimentation of the present investigation.

compressive residual stresses into the metal. When the induced 2.2. Optimization of welding parameters using autogeneous TIG bead
compressive residual stresses reach the yield strength of the treated on plate welding
metal, plastic deformation occurs. Due to this permanent deformation,
the mechanical and metallurgical properties are improved. Omar From the literature [27], welding current and welding speed were
Hatamleh [30] investigated LSP effect on friction stir welds of taken as working parameters. Taguchi L9 orthogonal array was used to
aluminium alloy and reported that the single layer shock peening has perform the optimization. Before welding, the heat input for each
improved the tensile properties of the welds by inducing compressive welding trail was calculated to confirm that the values are in control
residual stresses. limit.
It is inferred from the open literatures that the optimized welding IxV
parameters are required to fabricate sound weld and the ATIG welding The heat input equation is HI = ηx J /mm.
S (1)
process has the capability to join thicker sections without filler.
Further, it is identified that no research work reported the application where HI is heat input (J/mm), I represents welding current (A), V
of ATIG welding process for the joining of Inconel 600 plate and denotes voltage (V), S is welding speed (mm/min) and η designates arc
strengthening of Inconel 600 weldment by using LSP technique. Hence, efficiency. For both pulsed current and constant current gas tungsten
this research work has been carried out to find out the optimum arc welding processes, the arc efficiency is 80% [31]. The trail runs
welding parameters and to study the effect of SiO2, TiO2 single were conducted to identify the range of welding current and welding
component fluxes and their mixture on the weld penetration. speed. The limits of the parameters were finalized by examining the
Further, welding of Inconel 600 plates have been done by employing trails that are free from visible surface defects. The ranges of welding
the optimized welding condition and the various mechanical and parameters are listed in Table 2. Kemppi master TIG MLS 4000
metallurgical characterizations have been carried out on the un-peened welding machine with automatic torch travel setup as shown in
and laser shock peened weldment. The outcome of this research work is Fig. 2 was used in this research.
highly beneficial to the industries that are using Inconel 600 metal. Initially, based on a Taguchi L9 orthogonal array, bead on plate
experiments were conducted by autogeneous TIG welding technique
and samples are shown in Fig. 3. The macroscopic results of the bead
2. Experimental details on plate studies are presented in Fig. 4. Signal to Noise ratio (S/N
ratio) concept was used to determine the optimum welding parameters.
2.1. Base materials and scheme of experimentation Generally, there are three performance characteristics in the S/N ratio
concept such as higher the better (HB), lower the better (LB) and
In this present study, an Inconel 600 plate of 5 mm thickness was nominal the better (NB). In this investigation, higher the better
used as a BM. To reveal the chemical composition of a BM, the Atomic characteristic was selected and the set of parameters having a large

Table 5
ANOVA results for maximum weld penetration.

Factor Degrees of Freedom Adjusted sum of squares Adjusted mean square F-Value P-Value % of Contribution Rank

Current (A) 2 1.71264 0.85632 41.04 0.002 79.34 1

Speed (mm/min) 2 0.36245 0.18122 8.69 0.035 16.79 2
Error 4 0.08346 0.02086 3.87
Total 8 2.15855 100

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G. Chandrasekar et al. Materials Science & Engineering A 690 (2017) 405–417

Table 6
Confirmation test result.

Parameters S/N ratio Depth of penetration (mm)

Welding current (A) Welding speed (mm/min) Predicted value Experimented value Predicted value Experimented value

Optimum welding condition 120 80 8.5544 8.5821 2.67 2.68

Table 7
Experimental results of the ATIG bead on plate welding.

Process parameters Flux Macro-graph Depth of penetration (mm)

Welding current – 120 A SiO2 4.103

Welding speed – 80 mm/min TiO2 4.022

Heat input – 1.440 KJ/mm 50%SiO2+50%TiO2 5.00

Arc length – 2 mm
Shielding gas – Argon
Shielding gas flow rate – 8 L/min
Tungsten electrode diameter – 3.2 mm

S/N ratio were considered as the optimum condition. The S/N ratio for value of the i th experiment. The experimental data, S/N ratio and heat
higher the better criterion is given by the following equation input are shown in Table 3. The response data of S/N ratios for weld
penetration are shown in Table 4.
n
S 1 1 Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was performed by using Minitab
= − 10 log 10 ∑
N n i =1 Yi 2 (2) 17.0 software to identify the significance of parameters on the
responses. Table 5 shows the ANOVA results and the percentage of
where S/N means performance statistics (dB), n is number of repeti- contribution of each parameter along with rank. Further, a confirma-
tions for an experimental combination and Yi represents a performance tion test was carried out to check the adequacy of software results with

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G. Chandrasekar et al. Materials Science & Engineering A 690 (2017) 405–417

Fig. 5. The schematic arrangement of welding setup with back-purging technique.

the experimental results which is shown in Table 6.

2.3. Selection of activating flux using ATIG bead on plate welding

Fig. 7. Schematic representation of LSP setup employed in this research.

To study the effect of activating fluxes such as SiO2, TiO2 and

Table 8
compound flux of 50% SiO2+50% TiO2, a bead on plate trails were
The process parameters employed in LSP treatment.
carried out on Inconel 600 plate of 150 mm long×60 mm wide×5 mm
thickness by employing the optimal welding condition which is Description Units Values
obtained from the Taguchi method. Before ATIG welding, the plate
Laser – Nd:YAG
was buffed and cleaned with acetone, and the activating fluxes were
Number of shots – Single
prepared by mixing them with acetone to get a paste like consistency. Laser spot geometry – Square
Just before welding, a layer of flux was applied on the surface of the Laser spot size mm 15
plate with the aid of brush. After welding, samples were prepared by Laser energy mJ 360
using EDM and then macroscopic examination was carried out. The Laser pulse length ns 10
Power density GW/cm2 6
experimental results of the ATIG bead on plate weld are shown in
Laser repetition rate Hz 10
Table 7. Pulse density Pulses/cm2 3000

2.4. Fabrication of butt joint of Inconel 600 using ATIG welding

Inconel 600 plates of size 150 mm long×55 mm wide×5 mm thick

were welded using optimum welding condition and the standard butt
weld configuration was used in this investigation. During butt welding,
an argon gas was used for shielding. In order to protect the face side of
an adjoining area, a primary shielding gas was provided through a TIG
welding torch. To protect the root side of the joint, a special type of
shielding method called Back-purging technique was used. In this
technique, a secondary shielding was provided to the root side of weld
via a copper tube. This copper tube has a series of 0.5 mm diameter
holes with definite intervals and through these holes an argon gas was
sent into the root area for shielding. Fig. 5 shows the schematic
arrangement of welding setup with employed back-purging technique.
After welding, the weldment was examined by non-destructive
testing (NDT) methods to ensure that the joint was free from internal
defects. Finally, the welded plates were sliced into specimens of
different dimensions according to the ASTM standards using EDM to Fig. 8. Effect of welding current and welding speed on the mean S/N ratio.
carry out various mechanical and metallurgical characterizations.
procedure was followed in the specimen preparation. Macro and
2.5. Metallurgical characterization of Inconel 600 weldment microscopic examinations were carried out at the composite zone to
ensure the weldment quality. During microstructure analysis, a special
The ATIG weldment of Inconel 600 plate was sliced into coupons of type of etchant called glyceregia (a mixture of 15 ml HCL, 10 ml
30 mm×10 mm×5 mm in dimension at the composite area which glycerol and 5 ml HNO3) was used to explore the microstructure
encompasses BM, heat affected zone (HAZ) and weld zone for clearly. To reveal the grain size of weldment, the grain size measure-
metallurgical characterizations (Fig. 6). The standard metallographic

Fig. 6. Inconel 600 weldment used for macro, micro and vicker's microhardness test a) face side; b) root side; c) cross-section.

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G. Chandrasekar et al. Materials Science & Engineering A 690 (2017) 405–417

mechanical properties of the metals. The schematic arrangement of

LSP process performed on the ATIG weldment is shown in Fig. 7. The
process parameters employed for LSP as given in Table 8 were
determined by trial and error method. Before LSP treatment, a
standard metallographic process was carried out on the samples to
get a mirror finish surface. A PVC tape was then glued on the polished
surface as an ablation layer (sacrificing layer) and a single shot peening
was carried out on the samples. During peening process, the prepared
samples were placed under the flowing water (confining layer) and the
water thickness (above the metal surface) was maintained to be 2 mm
(approximately). After the laser peening treatment, the samples were
taken from the treated plate for various mechanical characterizations
like tensile, impact, hardness and bend test by using EDM. Further,
residual stress measurement was performed on the UP-ATIG and LP-
ATIG weldment using X-ray diffraction with the sin2ψ method [32].
Fig. 9. Effect of welding current and welding speed on the depth of penetration. The X-ray source of Cu Kα1 ray, the diffraction plane of (311) plane and
the X-ray beam of 2 mm diameter were used in this investigation. The
results obtained after LSP were compared with that of the un-peened
weldment.

3. Results & discussion

3.1. Autogeneous TIG bead on plate welding

3.1.1. Optimization of process parameters to produce maximum

depth of penetration
In this study, welding current and welding speed have been chosen
with an objective of obtaining maximum depth of penetration. The
Fig. 10. Macroscopic photograph of UP-ATIG weldment. macro images of each trial are shown in Fig. 4. The measured values of
depth of penetration, weld bead width and computed heat input for
ments were carried out using microstructure images taken from the each experimental runs are figured in Table 3. In order to analyze the
optical microscope. The ImageJ software was used for the grain size impact of each welding parameter on the depth of penetration, the S/N
measurements. Field Emission – Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE – ratio has been computed for all the trials and it is given in Tables 3 and
SEM) analysis was carried out on the tensile and impact test specimens 4. The mean response of S/N ratio for the welding parameters is shown
to ascertain the mode of failure. Similarly, Vicker's microhardness in Fig. 8. The effect of welding current and welding speed on depth of
indentations were analyzed by FE – SEM test to determine the penetration is presented in Fig. 9. It is inferred that as the welding
dimension of diagonals of pyramid indentation, which are used to current increases the depth of penetration also increases and the
compute the hardness number. To reveal the chemical elements maximum depth of penetration was obtained at a welding speed of
present in the weld, an Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDAX) 80 mm/min. ANOVA analysis results are shown in Table 5 and it is
point mapping was performed. found that the contribution of welding current and welding speed for
the maximum penetration are 79.34% and 16.79% respectively. It is
2.6. Mechanical characterization of Inconel 600 weldment observed from Table 3 and Fig. 4 that the welding current of 120 A and
the welding speed of 80 mm/min produce the maximum depth of
The ATIG weldment of Inconel 600 was sliced into various sizes of penetration of 2.686 mm and a bead width of 8.152 mm with the heat
samples for mechanical characterization. The tensile test was carried input of 1.44 KJ/mm. To check the reliability of design of experiments
out on the samples prepared as per the ASTM E8/E8M – 13a standard (DOE) results, a confirmation analysis was performed, using the
using Instron universal testing machine and two trials were performed following equation.
at a strain rate of 2 mm/min. Impact toughness was examined on the 1
samples made as per the ASTM E23 – 2c standard and two trials were [S / N ]predicted = [S / N ]m + ∑ ([S /N ]i−[S /N ]m)
conducted to ensure the repeatability of impact testing results. i=n (3)
Microhardness test was performed on the composite area of weldment
by vicker's microhardness tester. 180° root bend and face bend tests n=Number of main design parameters, here n=2
were carried out on the samples having dimensions of [S / N ]m =mean S/N ratio
135 mm×10 mm×5 mm prepared as per the ASTM E190 – 92 stan- [S / N ]i =mean S/N ratio at the optimal level
dards to assess the soundness and ductility of weld. The relationship of [S / N ]predicted =4.7606+(7.276−4.7606)+(6.039−4.7606)=8.5544
mechanical and metallurgical properties was compared and the results
are discussed in the following chapters. It is inferred from this From Eq. (2), by using [S / N ]predicted value of 8.5544, the perfor-
investigation results that the tensile failure has occurred at the weld mance value of the experiment (Yi) is calculated as 2.677 mm
zone as well as the tensile strength is found to be lower than the parent (predicted depth of penetration) which is closer to the experimental
metal. So, laser shock peening (LSP) treatment was performed on the value of 2.686 mm (actual depth of penetration).
ATIG weldment to enhance its properties. It could be determined from the Taguchi method and ANOVA
analysis that the contribution of welding current plays a major role for
2.7. Procedure of LSP treatment penetration than the welding speed. This is because, the increase in
welding current gives rise to current density, plasma arc intensity and
LSP is a kind of cold metal working process which improves the digging power of the arc. These phenomena cause a larger volume of

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G. Chandrasekar et al. Materials Science & Engineering A 690 (2017) 405–417

Fig. 11. Microstructure of UP-ATIG weldment of various zones (a) parent metal, (b) weld interface, (c) weld zone.

Fig. 13. EDAX result of the weld zone of UP-ATIG weldment.

3.2. ATIG bead on plate welding

3.2.1. Selection of activating flux to produce complete weld

Fig. 12. Grain size measurements results of the base metal, un-peened and laser peened penetration
weldment of Inconel 600 at two different orientations.
The ATIG bead on plate welding was carried out on the Inconel 600
plates by employing the optimal welding parameters. The employed
welding conditions are welding current – 120 A and welding speed –
base metal to melt and promote deeper penetration. On the contrary, 80 mm/min. Table 7 shows the macro images of ATIG bead on plate
an increase in the welding speed makes the TIG welding torch to move weldment and it is inferred that the activating flux had produced more
faster which decreases heat input and digging power of the arc thereby penetration than the optimal welding parameters owing to the arc
decreasing penetration.

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G. Chandrasekar et al. Materials Science & Engineering A 690 (2017) 405–417

Table 9
EDAX result of the weld zone of UP-ATIG weldment.

Alloying Elements % of Weight

Ni 75.8
Cr 13.28
Fe 6.94
Si 0.24
Mn 0.39
Al 0.18
Ti 0.13
C 0.21
Rem. 0.283

Peened Weldments
Un-Peened Weldments
800 Base Metal
700
Fig. 16. Residual stress results of un-peened and laser peened weldment of Inconel 600
600 measured along the transverse direction.
Stress. MPa

500

400

300

200

100

0
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25
Strain, mm/min
Fig. 14. Tensile graph of base metal, un-peened and laser peened weldment of Inconel
600.

constriction mechanism and marangoni effect [33]. In this investiga-

Fig. 17. FE – SEM fractographs of tensile test sample of UP-ATIG weldment of Inconel
tion, the used SiO2, TiO2 single component fluxes, and the compound
600.
flux of 50% SiO2+50% TiO2 had shown 52.75%, 49.73% and 86.15%
improvement in the depth of penetration respectively. Several litera-
tures [34,35] described that the weld bead geometry is directly affected
by the direction of molten metal flow and the factor surface tension
gradient determines the fluid flow direction. In this study, the used
fluxes had migrated the surface tension gradient to the pool center
which created an inward fluid flow and deeper penetration with narrow
bead (this is called as marangoni effect). But in the case of autogeneous
TIG welding process, without flux, the highest surface tension gradient
falls at the edge of the weld pool rather than the weld pool center so
that the weldment is wider and shallow in penetration.
Further, it is corroborated from the Table 7 that the compound flux Fig. 18. Impact photographs of UP-ATIG weldment of Inconel 600 after test.
of 50% SiO2+50% TiO2 had produced full weld penetration due to the

Fig. 15. Tensile photographs of the UP-ATIG weldment of Inconel 600 after test.

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G. Chandrasekar et al. Materials Science & Engineering A 690 (2017) 405–417

morphological and defect free weld in a single pass welding. More heat
input and improper welding condition can cause cracks in the weld
[36]. But no cracks have been found in the weld so the welding
parameters and generated heat during welding are under the control
limit.
Fig. 11. shows the microstructures of various zones of UP-ATIG
weldment. Fig. 11. (a) depicts the microstructure of parent metal of
Inconel 600 and it reveals that the parent metal has titanium carbide/
nitride in the form of dots on its grain boundaries as well as inside the
grains [ the commercial Inconel 600 plate contains TiC/TiN in its
matrix]. Similarly, annealing twins are found inside the grains and this
ensures that the Inconel 600 plate was strengthened by the annealing
treatment. Fig. 11. (b) shows the weld interface microstructure of UP-
ATIG weldment and it is inferred that the grains in the weld zone are
coarser than that of BM due to the high temperature at the weld zone
developed by ATIG process.
Fig. 19. FE – SEM fractographs of impact test sample of UP-ATIG weldment of Inconel Grain size measurements results as shown in Fig. 12 confirm the
600. grain coarsening at the weld zone. It is found that the BM grain size is
12 µm and UP-ATIG weldment grain size is 20 µm. Further it is
observed from Fig. 11(b) that the weld pool edge contains columnar
dendrites and the weld center possesses equiaxed dendrites due to the
solidification behavior of the weld pool. During solidification, grains
grew towards the weld center owing to the effects of steep thermal
gradient present at the weld interface than the weld pool center and
this favors the columnar dendritic growth opposite to the heat
extraction. In the same way, due to the rapid cooling and lower steep
thermal gradient at the pool center, equiaxed dendrites were formed at
the center of the weld as shown Fig. 11. (c).
It is observed from Fig. 11(b) and (c) that the Migrated Grain
Boundaries [MGBs] are present in the weld zone and this is due to the
thermal stresses developed by welding process. During ATIG welding,
thermal stresses were developed due to the difference of thermal
gradient between the weld center and the weld edge. These thermal
stresses nucleate a crack in the corner where three grains meet and
propagate along the grain boundaries to form MGBs. Further, coarse
grain structure present in the weld zone supports the grain boundary
migration because the specific surface of the grain boundaries per unit
volume is less than the fine grain structure and this phenomenon
Fig. 20. Hardness profile of Inconel 600 weldment (before and after LSP).
allows a crack to propagate easily than a crack growth in the fine grain
structure.
Energy Dispersive X – ray Analysis (EDAX) was performed in the
weld zone of UP-ATIG weldment to reveal the chemical changes
occurred during the welding process. Fig. 13 & Table 9 show the
graph and the value obtained in the EDAX analysis respectively. It is
inferred that there is no significant change in the chemical composi-
tion. This is because of controlled heat input developed by the
established welding condition, proper shielding provided during weld-
ing and compatibility of compound flux to the welding of Inconel 600.

Fig. 21. Bend test results of UP-ATIG weldment. 3.4. Mechanical characterization of Inconel 600 weldment under un-
peened condition
combined effect of activating fluxes SiO2 and TiO2. During ATIG
welding with compound flux, more positive ions were created when The tensile studies were carried out on two samples taken from the
compared to the welding with single component fluxes SiO2 and TiO2. UP-ATIG weldment and the results show that the ultimate tensile
The generated positive ions had attracted more number of electrons strength of the samples is 520 MPa and 516 MPa respectively. Fig. 14
present in the plasma column and thus caused high arc constriction. As shows the tensile graph of BM, un-peened and laser peened weldment
a result of the highly constricted arc, current density and arc pressure of Inconel 600. The average strength of the weld is found to be
were more at the weld pool center which promoted more inward flow 518 MPa and the ductility of the weldment is computed as 30%.
and deeper penetration (this is called as arc constriction mechanism). Fig. 15 shows that both the samples were fractured at the weld
zone. The resultant tensile strength and the ductility of weldment are
3.3. Metallurgical characterization of Inconel 600 weldment under lower than the BM property of 620 MPa and 50% respectively. This
un-peened condition would be due to the presence of tensile residual stresses and the coarser
grain structure in the weld zone [37]. Fig. 12 is the evidence for the
The macroscopic photograph of un-peened ATIG (UP-ATIG) weld- coarse grains in the weld zone and Fig. 16 shows residual stress
ment of Inconel 600 is shown in Fig. 10. It is inferred that the measurements results of un-peened weldment. It is found from the
established welding parameters and compound flux can produce a good figure that the average tensile residual stress is 315.6 MPa and it

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G. Chandrasekar et al. Materials Science & Engineering A 690 (2017) 405–417

Fig. 22. The various mechanical characterization results of LP-ATIG weldment of Inconel 600. a) tensile test b) 180° bend test c) impact test.

peened weldment and the sample FE – SEM photographs of vicker's

microhardness indentations at different zones. The average hardness
was found to be 212.53 HV which is slightly lower than the BM
hardness of 220.48 HV due to the grain coarsening effect. The obtained
hardness results are in well agreement with the tensile and toughness
results. Further, it is identified from the EDAX results that the
intermetallic phases and oxides, which could affect the hardness, are
not present in the weld zone.
To evaluate the ductility and soundness of the weld, 180° root and
face bend tests were carried out on the UP-ATIG weldment and the
results are shown in Fig. 21. No cracks and fissures were noticed for
both the root and face bend test samples. The results ensure the good
ductility and soundness of the weldment.

3.5. Mechanical characterization of Inconel 600 weldment under

peened condition

Owing to the failure of UP-ATIG weldment in the weld zone and

inferior tensile strength, the LSP treatment was carried out on the
Fig. 23. Residual stress results of UP-ATIG and LP-ATIG weldment of Inconel 600
ATIG weldment. Table 8 represents the process parameters employed
measured across the depth from the top surface.
in the LSP treatment and Fig. 22 shows the mechanical characteriza-
tion results of peened weldment.
decreases with increasing the distance from the weld center. Further,
It is inferred from Fig. 22(a) that the tensile fracture occurred far
hardness in the weld zone was lower than the BM and the HAZ which
away from the weld zone and the tensile strength is found to be
also supports lower tensile strength and failure in the weld zone. FE –
743 MPa which is higher than the UP-ATIG weldment and the BM
SEM fractographs of the tensile fractured surface is shown in Fig. 17. It
tensile strength of 518 MPa and 620 MPa respectively. Fig. 13 repre-
is inferred from the figure that the fractured surface contains more
sents the tensile graph of BM, un-peened weldment and laser peened
number of macro, micro voids and dimples. The coalescing of macro,
weldment of Inconel 600. The reason for the significant improvement
micro voids and dimples were promoted by the ductile mode of fracture
in the tensile strength of LP-ATIG weldment is due to the compressive
and it is evident from the ductile tearing ridges.
residual stresses in the weld zone [37]. Fig. 16 shows the residual stress
Charpy V-notch impact test was performed on the UP-ATIG
measurement results of un-peened and laser peened weldment. It is
weldment to evaluate the response to sudden load and it is shown in
found from the figure that in the un-peened condition, the tensile
Fig. 18. It is revealed from the figure that the weldment had not
residual stresses are present in the weld zone but after LSP treatment
undergone a complete rupture and the average impact toughness of the
the compressive residual stresses exist. The average compressive and
weld is found to be 85 J which is higher than the BM impact toughness
tensile residual stresses in the weld zone are found to be −375.2 MPa
of 76.1 J. This would be due to the lower hardness in the weld zone. FE
and 315.6 MPa respectively. Further, it is notable from the Fig. 23 that
– SEM analysis was carried out on the fractured surface and the
the compressive residual stresses at the surface are higher and they
obtained fractograph is shown in Fig. 19. It is corroborated that the
decrease gradually with increasing depth (−420 MPa to −400 MPa).
fracture occurred in ductile mode by observing the ductile tearing
The obtained results are in well agreement with the results reported by
ridges, coalesced macro/micro voids and dimples on the fractured
Karthik D et al., [38]. The authors reported that the LSP treatment
surface.
induces compressive residual stresses in the metal and they decrease
Vicker's microhardness test was carried out at the composite area of
across the depth from the treated surface.
the un-peened weldment. FE – SEM analysis was used to take the
Fig. 22(b) shows the bend test results of laser peened weldment and
diagonal readings and the theoretical calculations were done to figure
it could be seen that there are no cracks and fissures on the samples
out the hardness number. Fig. 20 shows the hardness profile of un-
surface which are the indication of good ductility. It is corroborated

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