Analytical study of temperature variation and estimation of heat affected zone in arc welded low carbon steel plates.

In the present work, an analytical study has been carried out to find the temperature variation in the welded steel plates. The shielded metal arc welding was done in low carbon steel plates (AISI 1020-0.18% C). Five such welded joints has been made by varying the current values and keeping the voltage constant. The temperature distribution on different point of the plates was determined by a mathematical expression available in Ref [14]. Also, the modelling and simulation works were carried out through ANSYS software. The aim behind this work is to find the location of lower critical temperature (i.e. 727°C) on the welded plates. Up to this temperature only, microstructural changes occur (from Ferrite to Austenite). In other words, the heat affected zone can exist up to the temperature zone of 727°C. The location of heat affected zone in each welded plates was found in this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]