Micro Structure and Hardness Analysis of

Brass metals are widely used for plumbing fittings. High tensile brasses are more highly alloyed and find uses in marine engineering. The welding of brass metal has been done by using an electrical weld machine (SMAW). The microstructure of brass metal welded was observed by optical microscope. The result can see that the microstructure has been changed due to heat from welding. The microstructure of original brass metal is seen as a fine laminar structure, but the microstructure at HAZ appears bigger grains and some areas at HAZ are seen with coarser microstructure. The microstructure at the weld zone indicates that it was found some agglomeration of materials from the reaction between brass metal and electrode coating wire. According to the hardness measurement, it is found the highest hardness value about 301.92 HV at the weld zone, while the hardness value at the base metal is 177.84 HV. This study shows that the joining technique of brass metal by using welding machine has been done, indicating that hardness value and microstructure have changed significantly due to heat from the welding effect, causing the material at the weld zone to become brittle, which is not ideal for welding results.