Abstract
An innovative yet simple technique for the inoculation of the weld pool of commercial
AISI 430 Ferritic Stainless Steel (FSS) with metal powders for grain refinement is
discussed. Aluminum or titanium powder in varying amounts introduced into the weld
pool via powder preplacement technique was melted under a tungsten inert gas (TIG)
torch. This strategy of inoculating the welds offers dual benefits of grain refinement and
constriction in the weld geometry. The addition of the metal powders constricts the
HAZ by as much as 50% of the conventional weld providing a grain refinement index
(GRI) of about 0.8 in titanium powder treated welds. It equally emerged that weld
property is not influenced by the grain size alone but equally by the amount of delta
ferrite in the microstructure.