Author(s)

Bolarinwa Johnson Kutelu¹, Saliu Ojo Seidu², Godwin Idenala Eghabor², Ayotunde Idris Ibitoye²

¹Department of Minerals and Petroleum Resources Engineering, Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria.
²Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria.

Welding as a fabrication process is one of the vital production routes for most manufacturing industries. Several factors are involved in the choice of welding process for specific applications; notable among these are compositional range of the material to be welded, the thickness of the base materials and type of current. Most metals oxidize rapidly in their molten state, and therefore, the weld area needs to be protected from atmospheric contamination; this is achieved in gas tungsten arc welding GTAW by a shielding gas (argon, helium, nitrogen). GTAW technique is one of the major processes for joining austenitic stainless steels (ASS) and ferritic stainless steel (FSS) fabrication. However, the microstructural change that occurs during welding and at weld joint is still a major challenge today as it affects both the corrosion resistance and the mechanical properties. Therefore, this present paper reviews past research findings on GTA welding of ASS and FSS. Results of the findings have confirmed that, depending on the amount of heat input, which can be controlled by welding parameters (welding speed, voltage and current), welded joints particularly, heat affected zones (HAZs) of both grades of steels can undergo mechanical failure and can be susceptible to corrosion attack if the joints are produced with a less ideal combination of welding parameters.

Austenitic Stainless Steel (ASS), GTA Welding, Heat Affected Zone (HAZ), Welding Speed, Voltage, Current, Heat Input, Shielding Gas, Filler Metal

Kutelu, B.J., Seidu, S.O., Eghabor, G.I. and Ibitoye, A.I. (2018) Review of GTAW Welding Parameters. Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering, 6, 541-554. doi: 10.4236/jmmce.2018.65039.