1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 Formability studies on plasma arc welded duplex stainless steel 2205 sheet Formbarkeitsstudien an Blechen aus plasma- lichtbogengeschweißtem rostfreiem Duplexstahl X2CrNiMo N22-5-3 R. Pramod 1 , S. Mohan Kumar 1 , N. Siva Shanmugam 1 , S. Arungalai Vendan 2 Sheet metal forming is cost-effective manufacturing process and hold a significant key position in fabrication works. Welding being a popular technique the industries primarily prefer for joining of sheet metal formed parts. The inherent material proper- ties changes at the weld metal and heat affected zone post welding process, hence the impact and changes on mechanical strength aspects need to be studied. The cur- rent study focuses on influence of plasma arc welding on formability of 1.6 mm thick duplex stainless steel 2205 sheet using Erichsen cupping test by gauging the height of the cup formed. The performed tests such as uniaxial tensile, microhardness showed better mechanical properties and decrease in formability noted from Erichsen cupping test for weld metal compared to base metal. Finite element analysis of Erich- sen cupping test is conducted using ABAQUS software and results are matched with experimental outcomes for validation. The comparison shows that a deviation of less than 5 % is noticed between actual and predicted formability index values. Micro- structure examination reveals that, equiaxed grains at the weld center and columnar grains at sides typically formed in the weld metal region. The decrease in formability of weld blank compared to base blank is attributed to an increase in ferrite content. This is supported by amount of ferrite content measured in weld metal is 55 % and base metal is 52 %. The scanning electron micrographs (base and weld blank) reveal the mode of failure is ductile. Keywords: Duplex stainless steel 2205 / plasma arc welding / formability / Erichsen cupping test / finite element analysis Schlüsselwörter: Rostfreier Duplexstahl 2205 / Plasma-Lichtbogenschweißen / Formbarkeit / Erichsen-Tiefungsversuch / Finite-Elemente-Analyse 1 Introduction Automobile and transport industries are working to develop inexpensive stainless steels while main- taining relatively high strength and corrosion resist- ance properties [1]. Duplex stainless steel a mem- ber of stainless steel family is performing an important role by contributing to applications in offshore marine structures, onshore machinery and construction sectors [2]. The successful use of du- plex stainless steel in the commercial market was led by its ability to satisfy the combined needs of 1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, National In- stitute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli - 620 015, TA- MIL NADU, REPUBLIC OF INDIA 2 School of Engineering, Dayananda Sagar Universi- ty, BANGALORE, REPUBLIC OF INDIA Corresponding author: N. Siva Shanmugam, Depart- ment of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli - 620 015, TAMIL NADU, REPUBLIC OF INDIA, E-Mail: nsiva@nitt.edu Materialwiss. Werkstofftech. 2020, 51, 163–173 DOI 10.1002/mawe.201900001 163 © 2020 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & CO. KGaA, Weinheim www.wiley-vch.de/home/muw