Effect of Rotating Arc on Mechanical Properties and Microstructural Characteristics of Gas Metal Arc Welded Carbon Steel Joints

Low carbon steels are widely used in the manufacturing sectors due to their good formability and easy weldability than other carbon steels. Usually, the welding processes like shielded metal arc welding, gas metal arc welding (GMAW), and electroslag welding are used for welding thick low carbon steel plates. Recently, a novel “rotary arc” or “spin arc” technique, a variant of GMAW process was developed with a rotary motion of filler wire that can change the flow of the weld puddle. This improves the sidewall fusion and reduces the heat input in welded joints of thick plates. In this investigation, an attempt has been made to join 12-mm-thick carbon steel plates by stationary arc gas metal arc welding and rotating arc gas metal arc welding processes. The aim of present paper is to study the influence of arc rotation on mechanical properties and microstructural characteristics of GMA welded carbon steel joints. The results indicated that the arc rotation of GMAW process yielded 15% improvement in joint efficiency than the conventional stationary arc process.