Joining of INCONEL-625 by microwave hybrid heating and its performance analysis

Abstract

Abstract Welding is a process in joining of two or more metals which is done by using or without using of filler materials. Domestic microwave ovens have been in use since last century. Now a day’s microwave technology could be employed to process materials. The investigation is carried out to compare the performance of Joint formed by Microwave hybrid heating with respect to tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding. Radiations emitted from microwave are used to join INCONEL-625 by employing INCONEL-625 powder of grain size 40μm as interface material. Graphite, Silicon carbide (SiC) and Charcoal was used as a susceptor material. And thin graphite sheet is used as separator. Traditional TIG welding machine is used to join INCONEL625 plates with INCONEL-625 wire as filler material. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) characterization joints after welding shows complete melting of INCONEL-625 powder particles and good metallurgical bonding with surface. X-ray diffraction (XRD) reveals the formation of niobium and chromium carbides and intermetallic phases. Joining of same INCONEL-625 plates by using TIG welding has successfully conducted. The novelty of this study is to develop new material joining approach by microwave heating. The comparative study showed material diffusion in microwave hybrid heating is much greater than that of TIG welding. Weld formed by microwave heating is more effective that of TIG welding.