Effects of Shielded Metal Arc Welding Process Parameters on Dilution in Hardfacing of Mild Steel Using Factorial Design

Surface properties of a metallic component, specifically wear-resistant characteristics are enhanced through hardfacing that employs deposition of explicitly designed alloy by means of surface welding. In the present study, dilution was measured in hardfacing using shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) with the help of full factorial design to investigate the effect of welding parameters on dilution. Bead on plate-type specimens was prepared for the measurement of dilution. Two multiple performance characteristics considered were dilution and wear rate. The dilution levels were analyzed with the help of two-level factorial design considering current (150 and 170 amp), buffer layer (with and without), and hardfacing layers (1 and 3) as process parameters. Further, wear rate of hardfaced samples were also calculated using pin on disk machine with the variation in hardfacing layers and buffer layer. The minimum wear rate is observed in sample prepared with three hardfacing layers along with buffer electrode.