An experimental investigation of flat wire electrodes and their weld bead quality in the FCAW process

This paper proposes a flat wire electrode technique in the flux cored arc welding (FCAW) process. E70T1 electrode was selected for the study. Flat shaped electrode can improve the quality of weld, in terms of mechanical properties. It also enhances the heat input and penetration. For this approach, experiments are carried out with varying size of flat wire electrodes. The result indicates that, the proposed technique of flat wire electrode can be used effectively to improve the weld bead quality. Mechanical properties are analyzed and compared with results produced by regular electrode in FCA welding. It inferred that, use of flat wire electrode in FCA welding gives 12.5% greater bending strength, 11% of greater impact strength and 8.45% of less hardness over the regular electrode in FCA welding. © 2017 by Begell House, Inc.