Parametric Optimisation of Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) on the Tensile Strength of AISI 316l Austenitic Stainless Steel Using Taguchi Method

Abstract

The purpose of this present study, was to use the Taguchi robust
design of experiments (DOE) technique to find the optimum GTAW
parameters on the tensile strength of AISI 316L austenitic stainless
steel. Taguchi L9 orthogonal array experiments were performed
on 250 mm by 250 mm by 10 mm dimensions of AISI 316L
austenitic stainless plate using ER316 filler material. Three GTA
welding parameters; welding current, welding voltage, and
shielding gas flow rate, were changed up to three levels; low,
medium and high. The results that were obtained were analysed
using a bigger-the-better option for signal-to-noise S/N ratio and
analysis of variance (ANOVA) with the aid of MINITAB 18
software. It was observed that, for optimisation of each response,
welding current was the most influential factor with a 65%
contribution. Maximum tensile strength was achieved at the
welding process parametric combination of welding current of 100
A, welding voltage of 25 V and gas flow rate of 20 L/min