Surface modification of mild steel using alumina powder ceramic particles and TIG torch welding

Dulah Aspa, Muhammad Luqman Nulhakim (2023) Surface modification of mild steel using alumina powder ceramic particles and TIG torch welding. Project Report. Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Melaka, Malaysia. (Submitted)

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Abstract

Mild steel materials are widely used in construction industry for structural components, pipes, oil and gas industry, automotive industry, equipment and machinery. This material has good properties in ductility, machinability and weldability and is a low-cost material. However, it was found that this material has low hardness and wear properties which limit the material's ability for wider applications. The way to overcome this problem is the process of surface modification using TIG torch welding where alumina powder (Al2O3) will be used as a coating on mild steel. The process parameter for this works consists of gas flow rate in the range from 20 L/min to 25 L/min and current from 90 A to 120 A. The modified surface produced from the surface modification was characterized using optical microscope, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), hardness tester, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and surface roughness tester. Based on the results, it was demonstrated that the modified surface layer produced maximum hardness of 97.7 HRB with melt layer of 2.0 mm in sample processed under current of 25 L/min. The development of martensite structure contributes to the enhancement of hardness properties. It was found that the intermetallic compound of iron aluminum (FeAl) and iron oxide (FeO3) were detected from XRD result which indicating the presence of alumina particles in the modified surface layer. Overall, it can be shown that this surface modification can lead to the enhancement on the surface properties with greater surface roughness and hardness qualities, which can be used for wear applications in a variety of sectors.

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