Quenched and tempered (Q&T) steels are prone to hydrogen induced cracking after welding. Austenitic stainless steel (ASS)
welding consumables are traditionally used for welding of high hardness, Q&T steels as they have higher solubility for hydrogen
in the austenitic phase. The use of stainless steel consumables for a non stainless steel base metal is not economical. Hence,
in the present work, an attempt was made to explore alternate consumables for welding Q&T steels. Flux cored arc welding process
was used to fabricate the joints using austenitic stainless steel and low hydrogen ferritic steel consumables. The joints
fabricated using low hydrogen ferritic steel consumables exhibited superior fatigue performances than the joints fabricated
using ASS consumables.
Keywords quenched and tempered steel - flux cored are welding process - austenitic stainless steel - low hydrogen ferritic steel - fatigue properties