SUITABILITY OF GTAW AND FCAW OF HIGH STRENGTH STEEL USED IN AIRCRAFT

Abstract

30KHGSN2A-VD (RUSSIAN MATERIAL) is an imported alloy steel used in aerospace industry for load bearing parts (CANARD BEAM). This steel has an excellent combination of high strength, impact toughness and ductility .Welding is extensively used as a fabrication process for joining parts made from this material. Messer’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (Nasik Division) produces military aircrafts under licensed production from Russia. Canard beam (suspension beam) involves GTAW and FCAW by manual metal arc techniques. A number of instances are encountered where the welding defects exceed the norms specified for correction. (For critical parts, not more than 20 % of seam length can be reworked and also the defective zone cannot be reworked more than twice.) These limitations have been imposed by the original manufacturer i.e. Russia. In the absence of sufficient data on the effects of welding (since not supplied by the manufacturer), rework is more and costly imported material pa...