Use of Plasma Method Variants When Welding Sheets Made of Steel X6CrNi18-10

The article presents the course and results of tests aimed to identify the effect of the PAW (plasma welding) method variant (with cold wire and without the filler metal) or PPAW method (flux-cored) on the shape of the weld, the tensile strength and the aesthetics of butt joints made of 2.0, 4.0 and 6.0 mm thick sheets in steel X6CrNi18-10. The research involved bend tests, macro and microscopic metallographic tests as well as the tensile tests of joints. The tests revealed that the use of various variants of the plasma welding method enabled the obtainment of welded joints representing the same quality, yet varying significantly in terms of aesthetics and mechanical properties.