Metallurgical and Mechanical Research on Dissimilar Electron Beam Welding of AISI 316L and AISI 4340

Dissimilar electron beam welding of 316L austenitic stainless steel and AISI 4340 low alloy high strength steel has been studied. Studies are focused on effect of beam current on weld geometry, optical and scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction of the weld microstructures, and heat affected zone. The results showed that the increase of beam current led to increasing depths and widths of the welds. The optimum beam current was 2.8 mA which shows full penetration with minimum width. The cooling rates were calculated for optimum sample by measuring secondary dendrite arm space and the results show that high cooling rates lead to austenitic microstructure. Moreover, the metallography result shows the columnar and equiaxed austenitic microstructures in weld zone. A comparison of HAZ widths depicts the wider HAZ in the 316L side. The tensile tests results showed that the optimum sample fractured from base metal in AISI 316L side with the UTS values is much greater than the other samples. Moreover, the fractography study presents the weld cross sections with dimples resembling ductile fracture. The hardness results showed that the increase of the beam current led to the formation of a wide softening zone as HAZ in AISI 4340 side