The Changes of Chemical Composition and Microstructure in Electroslag CladdingOverlays by using AISI 430 Stainless Steel Strip

In this study, the weld metals were obtained by electroslag strip cladding process using 430 stainless steel strip according to welding process parameters such as welding current, welding voltage, welding speed and polarity. We measured carefully the micro-Vickers hardness, microstructure, and chemical composition in the cross- sectional area of the electroslag strip cladding overaly using the AISI 430 stainless steel strip. The hardness of the cross section between the weld metal and the base metal was measured to be higher than those of the base metal and the weld metal around the boundary, which was related to the microstructure and chemical composition of the boundary. Particularly, the intermediate region of the boundary was observed, and the chemical composition of the constituent elements continuously changed in this part. The microstructural changes of the weld metal and the base metal were shown that the coarse pearlite structure, the fine perlite structure, the bainite structure, the martensite structure and the dual structure of the d-ferrite / martensite were observed from the base metal to the weld metal. The change of the constituent elements of the deposited metal after welding were analyzed by comparing with measured and calculated values. The variation in the deposited metal composition was mainly due to the interaction with the flux. Key words: Electroslag cladding, 430 stainless steel strip, Microstructure of weld metal, Alloying vector, Chemical composition of weld metal, Martensite stainless steel overlay