The present work involves the flux cored arc welding of a duplex stainless steel joint and the investigating for influences of the input welding transfer modes on the joint. The aim of this investigation is to identify the best input welding transfer mode and conditions to obtain a homogenous grain structure and defect free joint. The investigation incorporates experimental welding of the duplex stainless steel joint under constant current, pulsed current and surface tension transfer modes on the welding specimens. Subsequently the analyses of metallurgical characteristics and mechanical properties of the specimen were performed. Optical microscopy was utilized to characterize the weld metal identify grain boundaries, phase boundaries, inclusion distribution present in the specimen layer. The analysis revealed the microstructure of the weld region showing relative uniformity in the surface tension transfer mode in comparison to the constant current and pulsed current modes in the present investigation. The scanning electron micrograph with field emission analysis was utilized for investigating the presence of austenite and ferrite in the welded specimen. The results revealed sparsely distributed ferrite in the weld specimen with surface tension transfer mode when compared to specimens welded under constant and pulsed current mode resulting in higher concentration of austenite in the weld zone. Energy-dispersive X-ray analysis was performed to identify the element composition in the weld specimen. The surface tension transfer mode weld specimen exhibited similar composition of ferrite as with as specimens of constant and pulsed current mode. The X-ray diffraction analysis was performed to identify the element-chemical composition in the weld zone of the weld specimens. Electron back scatter diffraction analysis was made to discriminate the dissimilar phases by means of equating the inter-planar angles taken from the pattern of diffraction. The results obtained in terms of grain size and associated mechanical strength of the specimens, surface tension transfer mode yields better results

Keywords: Metal composites, Stainless steel, Ferrite, Austenite, Metallurgical characterization