Effect of Process Parameters on Weld Bead Geometry in Submerged Arc Welding Process-A Screening Test Using Orthogonal Arrays

Submerged arc welding (SAW) is one of the important welding processes used for welding thick blocks. Since arc in this welding is submerged under the blanket of granular fusible flux, the bead cannot be seen while welding. Hence all parameters such as arc voltage, welding current, carrier speed, electrode feed rate, nozzle to plate distance and the gap between plates etc. are to be preset. So, the effect of the parameters on the bead geometry is to be found out for which a number of experiments are to be carried out. Hence, in this work, to reduce the number of experiments a screening test is initially conducted, using Taguchi Technique. Open circuit voltage (OCV), wire feed rate (WFR), carrier speed (CS) and nozzle to plate distance (NPD) are chosen as input parameters and the reinforcement, width and penetration of the weld bead are taken as output parameters. L8 orthogonal array is selected, the factors are assigned and experiments are carried out. Column effect method is used to find the most effective parameters on bead characteristics.