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Optimization of Resistance Spot Welding - Taguchi
Optimization of Resistance Spot Welding - Taguchi
*Uğur Eşme
Mersin University, Tarsus Technical Education, Faculty Department of Machine
Education
33400 Tarsus/Mersin, Turkey
اﻟﺨﻼﺻـﺔ:
ﻲ ﺑﺎﻟﻤُﻘﺎو َﻣ ﺔ ) .(RSWوﻗ ﺪ ﺗ ّﻢ ﺺ ﺑﺎﻟ ﺸ ّﺪ ﻓ ﻲ ﻋﻤﻠّﻴ ﺔ اﻟﻠّﺤ ﺎم اﻟﻨُﻘﻄ ّ
ﺗُــﻘـّـﺪم هﺬﻩ اﻟﻮرﻗﺔ اﻟﺒﺤﺜﻴﺔ دراﺳﺔ ﺣﻮل اﺳﺘﻤﺜﺎل وﺗﺄﺛﻴﺮ ﻋﻮاﻣﻞ اﻟﺘﻠﺤﻴﻢ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻣُﻘﺎوﻣﺔ اﻟﻘ ّ
إﺟ ﺮاء اﻟﺪراﺳ ﺎت اﻟﻤِﺨﺒﺮّﻳ ﺔ ﺗﺤ ﺖ أوﺿ ﺎع ﻣُﺨﺘﻠﻔ ﺔ وذﻟ ﻚ ﺑﺘﻐﻴﻴ ﺮ ﻗ ُـﻮّة ﻗ ﻀﻴﺐ اﻟﻠّﺤ ﺎم ،وﺗﻴ ﺎر اﻟﻠّﺤ ﺎم ،وﻗﻄ ﺮ ﻗ ﻀﻴﺐ اﻟﻠّﺤ ﺎم ،وﻓﺘ ﺮة ﻋﻤﻠّﻴ ﺔ اﻟﻠّﺤ ﺎم .وﺗ ّﻢ ﺗﺤﺪﻳ ﺪ
ﺺ ﺑﺎﻟ ﺸﺪ ﻓ ﺘ ّﻢ ﺗﺤﺪﻳ ﺪهﺎ ﺑﻮﺳ ﺎﻃﺔ ﺗﺤﻠﻴ ﻞ اﻟﺘﺒ ﺎﻳﻦ ﻋﻮاﻣﻞ اﻟﻠّﺤﺎم ﺑﻮﺳﺎﻃﺔ ﻃﺮﻳﻘﺔ ﺗﺎﻏﻮﺗﺸﻲ ﻟﻠﺘﺼﻤﻴﻢ اﻟﻤِﺨﺒﺮ ّ
ي .أ ّﻣ ﺎ درﺟ ﺔ أهﻤّﻴ ﺔ ﻋﻮاﻣ ﻞ اﻟﻠّﺤ ﺎم ﻋﻠ ﻰ ﻣُﻘﺎوﻣ ﺔ اﻟﻘ ّ
) .(ANOVAأﻣّﺎ اﻟﺘﻮﻟﻴﻔﺔ اﻟﻤُﺜﻠﻰ ﻟﻌﻮاﻣﻞ اﻟﺘﻠﺤﻴﻢ ﻓﺘ ّﻢ إﻳﺠﺎدهﺎ ﺑﻮﺳﺎﻃﺔ ﺗﺤﻠﻴﻞ ﻧﺴﺒﺔ اﻹﺷﺎرة إﻟﻰ اﻟﻀﺠﻴﺞ ) .(S/Nوﻗﺪ أﻇﻬﺮت ﺗﺠﺎرب اﻟﺘﺜﺒﻴﺖ إﻣﻜﺎﻧّﻴ ﺔ زﻳ ﺎدة
ﺺ ﺑﺎﻟﺸﺪ ﺑﺸﻜﻞ ﻣﻠﺤﻮظ ﺑﻮﺳ ﺎﻃﺔ ﻃﺮﻳﻘ ﺔ ﺗﺎﻏﻮﺗ ﺸﻲ .وأآ ّـﺪت اﻟﻨﺘ ﺎﺋﺞ اﻟﻤِﺨﺒﺮّﻳ ﺔ ﺻ ﻼﺣﻴّﺔ ﻃﺮﻳﻘ ﺔ ﺗﺎﻏﻮﺗ ﺸﻲ اﻟ ُﻤ ﺴﺘﻌﻤﻠﺔ ﻟﺘﺤ ﺴﻴﻦ أداء ﻋﻤﻠّﻴ ﺔ اﻟﺘﻠﺤ ﻴﻢ ﻣُﻘﺎوﻣﺔ اﻟﻘ ّ
واﺳﺘﻤﺜﺎل ﻋﻮاﻣﻞ اﻟﻠّﺤﺎم ﻓﻲ ﻋﻤﻠﻴّﺔ اﻟﻠّﺤﺎم اﻟﻨُﻘﻄﻲّ ﺑﺎﻟﻤُﻘﺎوﻣَﺔ.
Corresponding author:
E-mail: uesme2003@hotmail.com
Paper Received April 14, 2008; Paper Revised March 18, 2009; Paper Accepted May 27, 2009
October 2009 The Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering, Volume 34, Number 2B 519
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ABSTRACT
This paper reports on an investigation of the effect and optimization of welding parameters on the tensile shear
strength in the resistance spot welding (RSW) process. The experimental studies were conducted under varying
electrode forces, welding currents, electrode diameters, and welding times. The settings of welding parameters were
determined by using the Taguchi experimental design method. The level of importance of the welding parameters on
the tensile shear strength is determined by using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The optimum welding parameter
combination was obtained by using the analysis of signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio. The confirmation tests indicated that it
is possible to increase tensile shear strength significantly by using the Taguchi method. The experimental results
confirmed the validity of the used Taguchi method for enhancing the welding performance and optimizing the
welding parameters in the resistance spot welding process.
Key words: resistance spot welding (RSW), tensile shear strength, Taguchi method, optimization
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1. INTRODUCTION
Resistance spot welding (RSW) has an important place in manufacturing and it is the simplest and most widely
used form of the electric resistance welding process in which faying surfaces are joined in one or more spots. As
shown in Figure 1, coalescence is produced in a relatively small area by the heat obtained from the resistance to the
flow of electric current through the workpieces held together under pressure by electrodes. The amount of heat
produced is a function of current, time, and resistance between the workpieces [1]. It is desirable to have the
maximum temperature at the interface of the parts to be joined. Therefore, the resistance of the workpieces and the
contact resistance between the electrodes and work should be kept as low as possible with respect to the resistance
between the faying surfaces. This could be achieved by controlling the contact area, electrode materials, and
dimensions, applied pressure, and surface quality of the workpieces [2].
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In this paper, the use of the Taguchi method to determine the welding process parameters with the optimal tensile
shear strength is reported. This is because the Taguchi method is a systematic application of design and analysis of
experiments for the purpose of designing and improving product quality at the design stage [16,17]. In recent years,
the Taguchi method has become a powerful tool for improving productivity during research and development so that
high quality products can be produced quickly and at low cost [18].
2. TAGUCHI METHOD FOR OPTIMIZATION OF PROCESS PARAMETERS
Optimization of process parameters is the key step in the Taguchi method to achieving high quality without
increasing cost. This is because optimization of process parameters can improve quality and the optimal process
parameters obtained from the Taguchi method are insensitive to the variation of environmental conditions and other
noise factors. Basically, classical process parameter design is complex and not easy to use [19].
An advantage of the Taguchi method is that it emphasizes a mean performance characteristic value close to the
target value rather than a value within certain specification limits, thus improving the product quality. Additionally,
Taguchi's method for experimental design is straightforward and easy to apply to many engineering situations,
making it a powerful yet simple tool. It can be used to quickly narrow the scope of a research project or to identify
problems in a manufacturing process from data already in existence [20].
The main disadvantage of the Taguchi method is that the results obtained are only relative and do not exactly
indicate what parameter has the highest effect on the performance characteristic value. Also, since orthogonal arrays
do not test all variable combinations, this method should not be used with all relationships between all variables. The
Taguchi method has been criticized in the literature for its difficulty in accounting for interactions between
parameters. Another limitation is that the Taguchi methods are offline, and therefore inappropriate for a dynamically
changing process such as a simulation study. Furthermore, since the Taguchi methods deal with designing quality
rather than correcting for poor quality, they are applied most effectively at early stages of process development [21].
A large number of experiments have to be carried out when the number of the process parameters increases. To
solve this task, the Taguchi method uses a special design of orthogonal arrays to study the entire process parameter
space with only a small number of experiments. Using an orthogonal array to design the experiment could help the
designers to study the influence of multiple controllable factors on the average of quality characteristics and the
variations in a fast and economic way, while using a signal-to-noise ratio to analyze the experimental data could help
the designers of the product or the manufacturer to easily find out the optimal parametric combinations.
A loss function is then defined to calculate the deviation between the experimental value and the desired value.
Taguchi recommends the use of the loss function to measure the deviation of the quality characteristic from the
desired value. The value of the overall loss function is further transformed into a signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio. Usually,
there are three categories of the quality characteristic in the analysis of the S/N ratio, i.e. the lower-the-better, the
larger-the-better, and the more-nominal-the-better. The S/N ratio for each level of process parameters is computed
based on the S/N analysis. Regardless of the category of the quality characteristic, a larger S/N ratio corresponds to a
better quality characteristic. Therefore, the optimal level of the process parameters is the level with the highest S/N
ratio. Furthermore, a statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA) is performed to see which process parameters are
statistically significant. The optimal combination of the process parameters can then be predicted.
Finally, a confirmation experiment is conducted to verify the optimal process parameters obtained from the
process parameter design.
3. EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS
Low carbon steel is extensively used for deep drawing of motor car bodies, motor cycle parts, and other domestic
applications. Therefore, the present work was planned to optimize the resistance spot welding parameters of SAE
1010 steel sheets with different thicknesses. The specimens were prepared by cutting the workpiece material into the
suitable dimensions and then cleaned and abraded to prevent high contact resistance which is created due to an oxide
layer [22]. The chemical composition (percent by weight), and the mechanical properties of the workpiece material
is given in Table 1.
Table 1. Chemical Analysis and Mechanical Properties of Workpiece Materials
C Mn Si P S
Percent
composition (%) 0.0823 0.621 0.181 0.0129 0.0162
% %
Yield strength Tensile strength Hardness
Mechanical Elongation Reduction in
(Mpa) (Mpa) (HB)
properties area
327 418 33.5 63 78
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The tension shear test experiments were performed on the specimens according to welding standards of the
Resistance Welders Manufacturer Association (RWMA) [23]. The configuration and dimensions of the specimens
used throughout the work are given in Figure 2 and Table 2 respectively.
Table 2. Dimensions of the Workpieces
Thickness Width Length Contacting
(t) (W) (L) Overlap
mm mm mm mm
1 19.05 76 19.05
2 25.4 101.6 25.4
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In complex manufacturing systems and nonlinear processes, the interaction effects of the process parameters
become significant. However, in the present study, since orthogonal arrays do not test all variable combinations, the
interaction effect of the welding parameters could not be taken into optimization process. As a result, the main
effect of each welding parameter on the tensile strength response was merely taken. There are thus eight degrees of
freedom owing to the four sets of three-level welding process parameters. The degrees of freedom for the orthogonal
array should be greater than or at least equal to those for the process parameters. In this study, an L18(34) orthogonal
array which has 17 degrees of freedom was used. Eighteen experiments are required to study the entire welding
parameter space when the L18 orthogonal array is used. The experimental layout for the welding process parameters
using the L18(34) orthogonal array is shown in Table 4 and the experimental results for tensile shear strength for each
thickness using the L18 orthogonal array are shown in Table 5.
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where n is the number of tests, and yi the experimental value of the ith quality characteristic, Lj overall loss function,
and η j is the S/N ratio. By applying Equations (1)–(2), the η corresponding to the overall loss function for each
experiment of L18 was calculated and given in Table 6.
The effect of each welding process parameter on the S/N ratio at different levels can be separated out because the
experimental design is orthogonal. The S/N ratio for each level of the welding process parameters is summarized in
Table 7. In addition, the total mean of the S/N ratio for the 18 experiments is also calculated and listed in Table7.
Table 6. S/N Ratios for the Tensile Shear Strength Measurements
S/N ratio
Experiment
dB
number
1 mm 2 mm
1 6.02 19.08
2 9.54 19.74
3 10.10 20.17
4 7.96 19.08
5 12.04 20.51
6 10.63 19.28
7 5.11 17.38
8 8.63 18.59
9 7.60 18.99
10 3.52 18.17
11 9.83 19.82
12 8.30 19.37
13 6.02 18.59
14 10.63 20.17
15 8.94 19.55
16 4.61 18.28
17 7.96 19.46
18 5.11 17.73
Table 7. S/N Responses for the Tensile Shear Strength
S/N Ratio Total
Maximum-
Thickness Symbol Process parameter dB mean
minimum
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 S/N
a
A Electrode force 7.89 9.37 6.50 2.87
B Welding current 5.54 9.77a 8.45 4.23
1mm 7.90
C Electrode diameter 8.05a 7.69 8.02 0.36
a
D Welding time 7.89 8.00 7.87 0.13
A Electrode force 19.39 19.53a 18.40 1.13
B Welding current 18.43 19.71a 19.18 1.28
2 mm a 19.10
C Electrode diameter 19.33 18.89 19.11 0.44
a
D Welding time 18.91 19.10 19.31 0.40
a
Optimum level
Figure 4 shows the S/N ratio graph where the dashed line is the value of the total mean of the S/N ratio.
Basically, the larger the S/N ratio, the better is the quality characteristic for the tensile shear strength.
October 2009 The Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering, Volume 34, Number 2B 525
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