EFFECT OF POST-WELD HEAT TREATMENT ON THE MICROSTRUCTURE AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF ARC WELDED MEDIUM CARBON STEEL

Effect of post- weld heat treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties of arc welded medium carbon steel was investigated. Medium carbon steel samples were butt- welded by using the shielded metal arc welding technique and, thereafter, heat treated by annealing, normalising and quench hardening in water. The microstructure of the as- welded and post- weld heated samples was characterised by means of optical microscopy while the hardness, toughness and tensile properties of the samples were determined by using Indentec universal hardness testing machine, Izod impact testing machine and Denison tensile testing machine respectively. The results of the optical microscopic test show that fine grains of pearlite in ferrite were obtained in normalized samples and martensite was also observed in quenched samples. On the other hand, mechanical property tests indicated that normalized welded specimens gave good combination of mechanical properties. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v35i2.1