Design optimization of TIG welding process for AISI 316L stainless steel

Abstract

AISI 316L stainless steel materials of thickness 3 mm have been united by tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding in square butt joint configuration as per Box-Behnken design technique of response surface methodology (RSM) to indentify the effects of input parameters on the quality of the TIG welded joints. The output responses have been measured after experimentation. Mathematical correlation between input parameters and output responses has been developed using RSM. The factors which influences on responses have been analyzed by generating the response surface and contour plots. Desirability function analysis (DFA) is employed for finding optimum parametric setting to achieve the most favourable mechanical properties. Microstructures of welded samples are also investigated to correlate the metallurgical-mechanical characteristics of the welded specimens. The result indicates that at the intermediate values of welding parameters create fine grain structure and superior mechanical properties.