International Journal of Mechanical and Production

Engineering Research and Development (IJMPERD)

ISSN (P): 2249-6890; ISSN (E): 2249-8001
Vol. 9, Issue 3, Jun 2019, 1785-1792
© TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.

THE MULTI OBJECTIVE OPTIMIZATION OF MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

AND BEAD GEOMETRY IN MIG WELDING

V. SANDHYA1*, M. VAMSI KRISHNA2, S. SAI KIRAN2 & CH. SATISH2

1
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chaitanya Bharathi
Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, India
2
Students, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chaitanya Bharathi
Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, India
ABSTRACT

In this study the effect of input parameters on weld bead geometry and mechanical properties of the joint are
analyzed to obtain the multi objective optimal conditions.

The experiment procedure are done by Design of experiments considering four parameters at three levels.
Nine trials were done by varying the parameters arc voltage, welding current, gas flow rate, and root gap. The joints
obtained are tested for bead geometry, hardness and ultimate tensile strength (UTS). The results obtained are analyzed

Original Article
using Taguchi and Grey relational analysis. By using the taguchi method it was found that the most significant
parameter was welding current on the weld properties. The multi objective optimal weld process parameters for
minimum bead width, minimum reinforcement and maximum penetration was obtained using grey relational analysis.
The multi optimal condition for UTS and Hardness was predicted using grey relational analysis

KEYWORDS: Design of Experiments, Ultimate Tensile Strength, ANOVA, Grey Relational Analysis & Taguchi Method

Received: Apr 20, 2019; Accepted: May 10, 2019; Published: Jun 21, 2019; Paper Id.: IJMPERDJUN2019191

INTRODUCTION

In most of the industries welding is applied for creating a permanent joint. Gas metal arc welding (or)
metal inert gas welding (GMAW/MIG) is a progressive version of electric arc welding. In this method arc is created
between a continuous coated electrode and work piece. In the literature many researchers have used MIG welding
for welding at different positions and applied automation for increasing productivity. Due to these features we
motivated to study the GMAW process in detail.

Ghazvinlo, H. R. et al., reported that MIG welding was commonly used in automotive industry for joining
of steel structural components. Monika K., et al., investigated mechanical Properties of Dissimilar Joints using MIG
Welding under the effect of speed of wire, voltage and welding current. In their experiment they used both joints
(IS2062 & IS45C8) and (IS2062 & IS103Cr1) for the experiment. They found that when heat input increases the
tensile strength decreases and when heat input decreases the metal hardness increases.

Aghakhani, M. et al., explained work for increasing the quality and productivity of weldment using
GMAW. They explained the influence of welding speed, voltage, flow rate of gas, feed rate on weld dilution. C. N.
Patel et al., evaluated weld bead hardness using MIG and TIG welding by altering the wire feed rate, wire diameter
and welding current.

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1786 V. Sandhya, M. Vamsi Krishna, S. Sai Kiran & Ch. Satish

Bahar D. et al., investigated the influence of process parameters in MIG welding to optimize the hardness and
ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of a weld bead formed between dissimilar materials: mild steel (MS 1020) and stainless
steel (SS 316) using Taguchi technique and Grey relational analysis.

Haragopal, G. et al., reported influence of current, pre-heat temperature, groove angle and gas pressure on
aluminium alloy (Al-65032), which is used for the construction of aerospace wings. Shekhar Srivastava et al., developed
mathematical model to maximize the depth of penetration, to minimize bead width and height by using Response Surface
Methodology.

Nabendu Ghosh et al., analysed the mechanical properties using Grey - Taguchi methodology by varying gas flow
rate, current, electrode to plate distance on AISI 316L austenitic stainless steels. Visual inspection and radiographic test
were conducted to analyze defects on surface and sub-surface. Kamal Pal et al., used back propagation neural network
(BPNN) for optimization of pulsed GMAW on low carbon steel.

In the present study we analyzed the impact of various parameters on strength and hardness of the weld joints.
Optimization was done using grey relational analysis and taguchi method.

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

MIG welding is widely used as it can be applied to different range of thickness and provides ease of operation and
high productivity. However the prediction of the behavior of the weld joint is difficult as it influenced by no. of parameters.
Mild steel is the cheapest and easily fabricated material used for a variety of different applications. It has very good
strength and other structural properties for a variety of applications. Mild steel (MS) is used to carry out experiment and its
chemical composition is shown in table 1.

Table 1: Chemical Composition of the Material

Element C Mn Fe P S
Weight% 0.14-0.20 0.60-0.90 98.81-99.26 0.04 0.05

The MIG welding set up used for the experiment is shown in figure-1.

Figure 1: Equipment Setup

Sixteen Mild steel plates with dimensions 120x50x5mm3 are prepared to study the experiment. To conduct the
experiment electrode extension was placed at 10 mm and electrode to work distance was maintained at 20 mm

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The Multi Objective Optimization of Mechanical Properties 1787
and Bead Geometry in MIG Welding

respectively. The welding was done by single pass. The electrode used is MS of 1.2 mm in diameter and coated with
copper. Input parameters considered are arc voltage, current, flow rate of gas and root gap. The experimental procedure
were developed using design of experiments using L16 orthogonal array considering three levels for each input parameter.
The following table 2 gives the details of the Experiments carried out.

Table 2: Design of Experiments using Various Parameters

Voltage Current Gas Flow Rate Root Gap
S No.
(V) (amp) (lit) (mm)
1 22 150 5 0
2 22 200 8 1
3 22 250 12 2
4 24 150 12 1
5 24 200 5 2
6 24 250 8 0
7 27 150 8 2
8 27 200 12 0
9 27 250 5 1

The specimens after welding are shown in the following figure 2.

Figure 2: Welded Specimens

TESTING

The universal test was done using ASTM A370-03a standards. The equipment used was a UTM Machine with a
maximum capacity of 1000 KN. The specimen was prepared using the procedures given in ASTM A370-03a and typical
dimensions are represented in below figure. (Figure-3)

Figure 3: Tensile Specimen Dimensions

The experimental analysis was done by using ‘FIE’ Electronic Universal Testing machine (UTM), model TCS-
2000. The experimental setup can be seen in figure 4.

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1788 V. Sandhya, M. Vamsi Krishna, S. Sai Kiran & Ch. Satish

The hardness test is carried by 1/16” ball intender and load of 150Kgs. The Rockwell hardness machine is shown
in figure 5.

Figure 4: Universal Testing Machine Figure 5: Hardness Testing Machine

The work specimen after tensile test are shown in the figure 6.

Figure 6: Sample Specimen after Tensile Test

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

The results obtained are tabulated in the table 3.

Table 3: UTS and Hardness for each Specimen

Voltage Current Gas Flow Rate Root Gap Tensile Strength
Exp No. HRC
(V) (amp) (lt) (mm) (N/mm2)
1 22 150 5 0 272.356 59
2 22 200 8 1 459.243 52
3 22 250 12 2 299.363 53
4 24 150 12 1 315.779 56
5 24 200 5 2 392.776 78
6 24 250 8 0 141.345 61
7 27 150 8 2 358.686 63
8 27 200 12 0 324.316 78
9 27 250 5 1 288.76 56

The bead geometry of the nine specimens are listed in the following table 4

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The Multi Objective Optimization of Mechanical Properties 1789
and Bead Geometry in MIG Welding

Table 4: Bead Geometry Values

Depth of Penetration Reinforcement Width of the Weld
Exp No.
(mm) (mm) (mm)
1 2.5 3.5 12
2 2.5 4 13
3 3 2.5 12
4 2 2 15
5 2.5 2.5 13
6 2 3 14
7 2.5 2 11
8 2 2 12
9 3 3 13

Grey Relational Analysis (GRA)

This technique evaluates single performance characteristic from multiple performance characteristics. Data pre-
processing is the first step to eliminate the problem of different units, targets and scales. The stepwise procedure followed
in GRA process are

• Normalized the data between zero and one range.

• Calculate grey relational coefficients from normalized experimental data.

• For each characteristic Grey relational grade is computed by considering weighted averagegrey relational
coefficients.

• Select the optimal parameters.

Multi Response Optimization

Grey relational analysis is employed in order to optimize the hardness as well as UTS. Grey relational coefficients
(GRC), grey relational grades (GRG) and ranks are calculated to optimize the UTS and hardness which are shown in Table
5.

Table 5: Grey Relational Coefficients, Grades and

Ranks for UTS and Hardness
GRC GRC
Exp no. GRG Rank
(UTS) (HRC)
1 0.460 0.650 0.555 6
2 1.000 1.000 1.000 1
3 0.433 0.929 0.681 2
4 0.526 0.765 0.645 3
5 0.705 0.333 0.519 7
6 0.333 0.591 0.462 8
7 0.613 0.542 0.577 5
8 0.541 0.333 0.437 9
9 0.482 0.765 0.624 4

GRA is performed to minimise bead width, reinforcement and maximize penetration which is shown in Table 6.

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1790 V. Sandhya, M. Vamsi Krishna, S. Sai Kiran & Ch. Satish

Table 6: Grey Relational Coefficients, Grades and Ranks for Bead Geometry
GRC for Depth of GRC for GRC for Width
Exp no. Grade Rank
Penetration(mm)
(mm) Reinforcement(mm) of the Weld(mm)
1 0.5 0.4 0.6667 0.1767 7
2 0.5 0.3333 0.5 0.1556 9
3 1 0.6667 0.6667 0.2778 1
4 0.5 1 0.3333 0.1833 5
5 0.5 0.6667 0.5 0.1778 6
6 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.1567 8
7 0.5 1 1 0.25 2
8 0.3333 1 0.6667 0.1889 4
9 1 0.5 0.5 0.25 2

Figure 7 Represents the main effect plot for S/N ratios and Table 7 Shows the response table for signal to noise of
UTS.

Figure 7: Main Effect Plot for S/N Ratios of UTS

Table 7:: Response Table for Signal to Noise Ratios of UTS

Level Voltage Current Gas Flow Rate Root gap
1 50.49 49.93 47.31 49.93
2 48.29 51.78 50.81 49.11
3 50.17 47.25 50.83 49.91
Delta 2.20 4.53 3.52 0.82
Rank 3 1 2 4

Figure 8 shows the main effect plot for S/N ratios and Table 8 presents the response table for signal to noise of
Hardness.

Figure 8: Main Effect of S/N Ratio for Hardness

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The Multi Objective Optimization of Mechanical Properties 1791
and Bead Geometry in MIG Welding

Table 8: Response Table for Signal to Noise Ratios of Hardness

Level Voltage Current Gas Flow Rate Root gap
1 54.67 59.33 66.00 64.33
2 65.00 69.33 54.67 58.67
3 65.67 56.67 64.67 62.33
Delta 11.00 12.67 11.33 5.67
Rank 3 1 2 4

CONCLUSIONS

Butt weld joints obtained by Metal Inert Gas welding were analyzed using multi objective optimization for bead
geometry and mechanical properties. The optimal weld process parameters for minimum bead width, minimum
reinforcement and maximum penetration was obtained using grey relational analysis as experiment no 3. Whereas the
optimality for ultimate tensile strength and hardness was obtained from the experiment no 2 process parameters. The
response table shows that welding current influences UTS and hardness properties of the weld bead.

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