Title: Optimisation of welding process parameters for distortion control with Taguchi approach

Authors: Suresh Akella; B. Ramesh Kumar; Y. Krishnaiah

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sreyas Institute of Engineering and Technology, Hyderabad, Nagole 500068, India ' Institute for Plasma Research, Bhat, Gandhinagar 382428, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sreyas Institute of Engineering and Technology, Hyderabad, Nagole 500068, India

Abstract: Weld distortion minimisation in tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding process is achieved by using Taguchi approach. The transverse distortion of TIG welding process was evaluated using weld current, root gap, Argon gas flow rate and the weld speed as the main parameters using an L8 orthogonal outer array. Three noise factors were accommodated in L4 array. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) is applied for the optimisation, first for effectiveness then for mean and finally for variation. From these experiments, it was found that the factors like weld current, weld speed and root gap have major contribution in controlling both mean and variation of weld distortion. The estimated optimum distortion is two degrees.

Keywords: weld distortion; Taguchi methods; ANOVA; robust design; optimisation; welding process parameters; distortion control; tungsten inert gas; TIG welding; weld current; root gap; argon gas flow; weld speed; orthogonal arrays.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPTECH.2013.053305

International Journal of Precision Technology, 2013 Vol.3 No.2, pp.206 - 219

Published online: 27 May 2013 *

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