Arc stud welding for hollow parts

The main objective of this research is to investigate arc stud welding (ASW) as a suitable method to combine hollow studs with metal plates by an arc of electricity. This process is used extensively in the fields of automobile and industrial equipment manufacturing, boiler, building, bridge and railroad construction and shipbuilding. Due to its crucial importance, it is very significant to decide the influencing parameters for the mechanical and microstructural properties of the welded specimens. In this work, AISI304 hollow studs are welded to AISI304 stainless steel plates because of wide variety of usage in industry. The effect of different welding parameters on the grain structure of the welding area and some essential mechanical characteristics of the welded joints are examined. The selected parameters like welding current, welding time, lift and plunge on the microstructural properties were experimentally investigated. All samples were subjected to tensile test, bending test and microstructural examinations. According to the response tables of signal to noise ratio and ANOVA, it is observed that optimum levels of welding parameters for tensile strength of welded joints.