Effect of vibration on microstructures and mechanical properties of 304 stainless steel GTA welds

Abstract

This study investigates the microstructures and mechanical properties of 304 stainless steel at various vibration frequencies during simultaneous vibration welding. The experimental results demonstrated that simultaneous vibration welding could accelerate the nucleation and grain refinement of the microstructures. The effect of the grain refinement was more evident at the resonant frequency (375 Hz) and a minimum content of residual δ-ferrite (4.0%). The γ phase grew in the preferential orientation of the (111) direction with and without vibration. The full width at half maximum of the diffraction peak widened after the vibration, which was attributed to the grain refinement. The residual stress could be efficiently removed through simultaneous vibration welding when the amplitude of the vibration was increased. Furthermore, the lowest residual stress (139 MPa) was found when the vibration frequency was 375 Hz. The hardness and Young’s modulus exhibited slight increases with low and medium frequencies. The hardness values were increased by 7.6% and Young’s modulus was increased by 15% when the vibration frequency was resonant (375 Hz).