Author : S.Maruthi Gangadhar Reddy

AISI 316 is the standard molybdenum-bearing grade, second in importance to 304 amongst the austenitic stainless steels. The molybdenum gives 316 better overall corrosion resistant properties than Grade 304, particularly higher resistance to pitting and crevice corrosion in chloride environments. 316L stainless steel offers higher creep, stress to rupture and tensile strength at elevated temperatures. Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding continues to be one of the major welding processes used in the industry for high quality joints. Numerous developments have taken place in TIG welding technology over the past in power supply, shielding gas, tungsten electrode and welding torches, the productivity improvements were marginal. An increase in productivity can be achieved by increasing the penetration depth, as it helps reducing the number of welding passes. Activated TIG welding process known as A-TIG can be beneficial in this respect. In this work an attempt is made to study the feasibility of joining AISI 316 by A-TIG welding. In addition ANOVA analysis with three factors is performed and results indicate that among the parameters considered (flux material, weld current, root gap) the most significant parameter is flux material followed by weld current and root gap.

Keywords: Activated TIG Welding, Flux material, Root gap, Weld current, ANOVA.

Article published in International Journal of Current Engineering and Technology, Vol.6, No.3 (June-2016)