A Feasibility Study on Manufacturing of Functionally Graded Structures Using SiC Ceramic Powder in a Steel‐Based Matrix by Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW)

The paper presents a feasibility study on application of the gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) process to obtain metal composite functional coating for advanced tribological application. Silicon carbide (SiC) particles in the form of powder was added to a weld pool in autogenous mode as well as with an additional filler wire. Powder feeding was carried out at different angles and with varying separation distance from the welding torch. The metallurgical characterization of the cladded structure was carried out using optical as well as scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDS) was performed to analyze the composition of the deposited weld metal. It has been observed that due to low SiC density it was difficult for particles to penetrate the weld pool. Also the added SiC was found to be dissociated into Si and carbon (C) and the large amount of dissolved C in the weld pool resulted in formation of graphite phases.