Microstructural Analysis of Ballistic Tests on Welded Armor Steel Joints

Abstract

The deformation and fracture behavior of welded joints made from quenched and tempered steel closely conforming to AISI 4340 were investigated. Due to weld thermal cycles and under matching fillers, the welded armor steel joints showed poor ballistic performance compared with the base metal (BM). The problems encountered in the past were reduced by depositing a soft austenitic stainless-steel buttering layer in between the BM and the hardfaced layer. This method showed enhancement in ballistic performance and good weld integrity. In this investigation, an attempt is made to investigate the microstructure after ballistic testing on the weld metal zone consisting of the hardfaced interlayer. The results reveal the microstructural characteristics before and after ballistic testing of armor steel welds fabricated using the shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) process. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York and ASM International.