Effect of Different Activated Fluxes on Mechanical Properties of DSS 2205 in Pulsed Tungsten Inert Gas Welding

The present study relates investigating the effect of four kinds of fluxes: SiO2, MnO2, TiO2, and Al2O3, and no flux was used in activated-pulsed tungsten inert gas (A-PTIG) welding process on ultimate tensile strength (UTS), yield strength (YS), elongation, and weld morphology of duplex stainless steel SS2205. This study involves a novel variant of the activated-pulsed TIG welding process and was applied to 6-mm-thickDSS 2205 plate through a thin layer of flux to join plate-to-plate using a butt joint. The oxide fluxes used were employed in powdered form. The experimental results indicate that using SiO2, MnO2, TiO2, and Al2O3 fluxes leads to a significant increase in the capacity of TIG welds. The employed activated-pulsed TIG welding showed increase in joint penetration and weld depth-to-width ratio, thereby reducing the angular distortion of the weldments. Weld morphology of all the weld was studied and correlated with the mechanical properties.