Mechanical & Microstructural Analysys Of Armor Steel Welded Joints

Abstract

One of the main construction materials used in armor vehicles is Mil-A 46100 Armor Steel. The importance of the material arises from its mechanical properties such as hardness and explosive protection capability. MIG (Metal Inert Gas) welding technique is principally based on welding metals via electric arc where the arc is continous between metals and welding wire. In case welded metals are steel based materials, O2 and CO2 are added in portective gases in order to prevent unexpected welding defects. In MIG welding applications, the amount of ferrit in the chemical structure of the armor steel may result in some unexpected affects due to its decreasing characteristic on ductility and toughness. The welding wires used in MIG operations may exibit different fracture characteristics; as some specimen show ductile fracture characteristics, the rest may show brittle. Charpy Impact Test is one of the effective tests to determine the impact energy and the fracture times of welded metals. In this study, it is aimed to determine the relations between micro-structural results and fracture times of the welded parts of Mil-A 46100 steels via MIG applications.