International Journal of Latest Research in Engineering and Technology (IJLRET)

ISSN: 2454-5031
www.ijlret.com Volume 2 Issue 1 January 2016 PP 28-34

Effect of Titanium powder addition on hardness in submerged arc

welding
Atul Kathuria
Student M.tech (mechanical(I&P)
Galaxy Global Group of Instituions(Ambala)

Deepak Gupta
Assistant Professor(Mechanical Dept.)
Galaxy Global Group of Institutions(Ambala)

AbstractThis paper reports on an optimization of SAW process by the effects of Titanium powder on hardness
by applying Taguchi methods to improve the quality of Submerged arc welding, and engineering development of
designs for studying variation. IS 2062 steel is used as the work piece material for carrying out the experimentation to
optimize the optimal parameter for higher hardness. There are three machining parameters i.e. current, electrode stick
out and flux. Taguchi orthogonal array is designed with three levels of parameters with the help of software Minitab
15. In the first run nine experiments are performed and hardness is calculated. The hardness was considered as the
quality characteristic with the concept of "the larger-the-better". The S/N ratio for the larger-the-better Where n is the
number of measurements in a trial/row, in this case, n=1 and y is the measured value in a run/row. The S/N ratio values
are calculated by taking into consideration with the help of software Minitab 15. The hardness values measured from
the experiments and their optimum value for maximum hardness Every day scientists are developing new materials
and for each new material, we need economical and efficient welding. It is also predicted that Taguchi method is a
good method for optimization of various machining parameters as it reduces the number of experiments. The optimal
value of Hardness is maximum on the parameter when current is 350 ampere, electrode stick out 25 mm and flux 3 is
used. After all study it was found titanium powder is helpful to increase hardness of weld in submerged arc welding.

Index Terms SAW welding, optimization, orthogonal array, ANOVA, S/N ratio.
I. INTRODUCTION
In submerged arc welding, the end of a continuous bare wire electrode is inserted into a mound of flux that covers the
area or joint to be welded. An arc is initiated using one of six arc- starting methods, described later in this chapter. A
wire-feeding mechanism then begins to feed the electrode wire towards the joint at a controlled rate, and the feeder is
moved manually or automatically along the weld seam. For machine or automatic welding, the work may be moved
beneath a stationary wire feeder. Additional flux is continually fed in front of and around the electrode, and
continuously distributed over the joint. Heat evolved by the electric arc progressively melts some of the flux, the end
of the wire, and the adjacent edges of the base metal, creating a pool of molten metal beneath a layer of liquid slag.
The melted bath near the arc is in a highly turbulent state. Gas bubbles are quickly swept to the surface of the pool.
The flux floats on the molten metal and completely shields the welding zone from the atmosphere. The liquid flux may
conduct some electric current between the wire and base metal, but an electric arc is the predominant heat source. The
flux blanket on the top surface of the weld pool prevents atmospheric gases from contaminating the weld metal, and
dissolves impurities in the base metal and electrode and floats them to the surface. The flux can also add or remove
certain alloying elements to or from the weld metal. As the welding zone progresses along the seam, the weld metal
and then the liquid flux cool and solidify, forming a weld bead and a protective slag shield over it. It is important that
the slag is completely removed before making another weld pass. [1]

II. LITRETURE SURVEY

A.M. Mercado, V.M. Hirata and M. L. Munoz (2) were investigation on Influence of the chemical composition of flux
on the microstructure and tensile properties of submerged-arc welds. V.B. Trindade, R.S.T. Mello, J.C. Payo and
R.P.R. Paranhos (3) said about the Influence of Zirconium on Microstructure and Toughness of Low-Alloy Steel
Weld Metals. P. Kanjilal, T.K. Pal and S.K. Majumdar (4) were researched on combined effect of flux and
welding parameters on chemical composition and mechanical properties of submerged arc weld metal. S.
Kumanan, J.E.R. Dhas and K. Gowthaman (5) were explaining Determination of submerged arc welding
process parameters using Taguchi method and Regression analysis. S. Datta, A. Bandyopadhyay and P.K. Pal
(6) were discussed about Application of Taguchi philosophy for parametric optimization of bead geometry and

www.ijlret.com

28 | Page

Effect of Titanium powder addition on hardness in submerged arc welding

HAZ width in SAW using a mixture of fresh flux and fused flux. A. Singh, S. Datta, S.S. Mahapatra, T. Singha
and G. Majumdar (7) were said that Optimization of bead geometry of submerged arc weld using fuzzy based
desirability function approach.
The experimental studies were conducted under varying current, electrode stick out and flux.

III. TAGUCHIS DESIGN METHODE

Taguchi methods are statistical methods developed by Genichi Taguchi to improve the quality of manufactured goods,
and more recently also applied to engineering, advertising, Professional statisticians have welcomed the goals and
improvements brought about by Taguchi methods, particularly by Taguchi's development of designs for studying
variation, but have criticized the inefficiency of some of Taguchi's proposals. "Orthogonal Arrays" (OA) provide a set of
well balanced (minimum) experiments and Dr. Taguchi's Signal-to-Noise ratios (S/N), which are log functions of
desired output, serve as objective functions for optimization, help in data analysis and prediction of optimum
results.
A. Signal to Noise Ratio
There are 3 Signal-to-Noise r a t i o s of common interest for optimization
(I) Smaller-The-Better:
n = -10 Log10 [mean of sum of squares of measured data]
(Ii) Larger-The-Better:
n = -10 Log10 [mean of sum squares of reciprocal of measured data]
(Iii) Nominal-The-Best:
Square of mean
n = 10 Log10
Variance
B. Work Material
The work material used for present work is Mild Steel IS 2062, the dimensions of the work piece length 250mm,
width of 125mm, thickness 10mm.
Table 1: % age composition of base metal
Mn
C (%)
Si (%)
P (%)
S (%)
(%)
0.1567

0.9718

0.1175

0.01521

0.00780

C. Electrode
EH-14 type of electrode wire is used in this experiment. The diameter of the electrode wire is 3.2mm is constant.
Table 2: % age composition of electrode
C (%)

Mn (%)

Si (%)

P (%)

S (%)

0.14

1.5

0.3

0.03

0.03

D. Flux
Firstly, AUTOMELT B31 type of flux is used in this experiment. Basicity index of AUTOMELT B31 is 1.5 with
grain size of 0.25-2.0 mm and is being considered neutral flux, according to the basicity index.
Table 3: % age composition of flux
SiO2+TiO2

CaO+MgO

Al2O3+MnO

CaF2

(%)

(%)

(%)

(%)

15

20

30

35

E. Welding parameters and their levels

For selection of parameters and their level is based on pilot study.

www.ijlret.com

29 | Page

Effect of Titanium powder addition on hardness in submerged arc welding

Table 4: Welding Parameters and Their Levels
Parameters

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Current (Amp.)

250

300

350

22

25

28

Electrode stick out

(mm)
flux

Where 1st flux is (AUTOMELT B31), 2nd flux is (10 % titanium powder addition in AUTOMELT B31) and 3rd flux
is (20 % titanium powder addition in AUTOMELT B31).
FL9 3 Level Taguchi Orthogonal Array
Taguchis orthogonal design uses a special set of predefined arrays called orthogonal arrays (OAs) to design
the plan of experiment. These standard arrays stipulate the way of full information of all the factors that affects
the process performance (process responses). The corresponding OA is selected from the set of predefined
OAs according to the number of factors and their levels that wi l l b e u s e d in the experiment. Table No.5
shows L9 Orthogonal array
Table 5: L9 orthogonal array
Process Parameter
Experimen
Electrode
Current
t no.
stick out
(Ampere)
(mm)

flux

L1

L1

L1

L1

L2

L2

L1

L3

L3

L2

L1

L2

L2

L2

L3

L2

L3

L1

L3

L1

L3

L3

L2

L1

L3

L3

L2

www.ijlret.com

30 | Page

Effect of Titanium powder addition on hardness in submerged arc welding

IV. ANALYSIS OF HARDNESS RESULTS
The testing would be carried on computerized Vickers Hardness test machine. Table 6 shows the result of hardness.
Table 6 Results for Hardness
on
Electrode
on
on
base
Stick out Fux
Welding HAZ
Metal
(mm)
(hvn)
(hvn)
(hvn)

Tria
l
No.

Current
(A)

250

22

168

180

160

250

25

168

221

183

250

28

170

235

188

300

22

167

230

189

300

25

166

253

192

300

28

169

192

180

350

22

171

240

192

350

25

166

234

178

350

28

167

245

199

Mean
(hvn)

S/N
ratio

169.3

44.54

190.6

45.43

197.6

45.68

195.3

45.59

203.6

45.79

180.3

45.08

201.0

45.81

192.6

45.42

203.6

45.86

V. ANOVA FOR S/N RATIOS OF HARDNESS

The purpose of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) is to investigate which design parameters significantly affect
the quality characteristic. This is to accomplished by separating the total variability of the S/N ratios, which is
measured by the sum of the squared deviations from the total mean S/N ratio, into contributions by each of the
design parameters and the error. The result of ANOVA is shown in given table.
Table 7: Result of analysis of variance for Hardness

Source

D.
O
.F

Current

Electrode
stick out

Flux

0.11

%
age
cont
ribu
tion
23.6

Seq SS

Adj
SS

Adj
MS

0.3412

0.3412

0.170

61

0.1068

0.1068

0.053

44

0.9525

0.9525

0.476

21.4

0.04

65.9

25

www.ijlret.com

7.68

2.41

0.29
4

7.4

31 | Page

Effect of Titanium powder addition on hardness in submerged arc welding

Residual
error

Total

0.0444

0.0444

0.022

22

3.07

1.4450
5

The response table for signal to noise ratio are shown in Table 8
Table 8 Response table for signal to noise ratio
Level

Electrode

Current

Flux

stick out
1

45.22

45.32

45.02

45.49

45.55

45.63

45.70

45.54

45.76

Delta

0.48

0.23

0.75

Rank

In our experimental analysis, the ranks indicate that flux has the greatest influence on the S/N ratio. For S/N ratio,
current has the next greatest influence and the electrode stick out has the least influence. The optimum combination of
parameters for hardness value is shown in Table 9.
Table 9 Optimum combination of parameters
Current

Electrode
stick out
Flux

Level 3

350 Ampere

Level 2

25 mm

Level 3

Main effect plot of signal to noise ratio for hardness test is shown in Fig.1
Main Effects Plot for SN ratios
Data Means

Current

45.8

Electrode stick out

45.6

Mean of SN ratios

45.4
45.2
45.0
250

300

350

22

25

28

Flux

45.8
45.6
45.4
45.2
45.0
1

Signal-to-noise: Larger is better

Fig. 1 Main effect plot of signal to noise ratio for hardness

www.ijlret.com

32 | Page

Effect of Titanium powder addition on hardness in submerged arc welding

VI. ANOVA FOR MEAN OF HARDNESS
The analysis of variance for mean is shown in Table 10
Table 10 Analysis of variance for mean
Source
Current
Electrode

D.O.F.
2
2

Seq SS

Adj

Adj

262.99

SS
262.9

MS
131.4

82.17

41.09

82.17

%Age

8.17

0.10

contribution
25.19

2.55

stick out

9
0.28

Flux

666.77

666.7

333.3

20.7

1
0.04

Residual

32.17

7
32.17

8
16.09

error
Total

1044.1

7.87
63.86
3.08

The response for mean is shown in Table 11. The response table shows the average of each response
characteristic for each level of each factor.
Table 11 Response table for mean
Electrode stick

Level

Current

185.9

188.6

180.8

193.1

195.7

196.6

199.1

193.9

200.8

Delta

13.2

7.1

20.0

Rank

out

Flux

The optimum combinations of parameters is shown in Table 12

Table 12 Optimum combinations of parameters
Current

Level 3

250 Ampere

Electrode Stick out

Level 2

25 mm

Flux

Level 3

www.ijlret.com

33 | Page

Effect of Titanium powder addition on hardness in submerged arc welding

Main effect plot of mean for hardness test is shown in Fig.5

Fig. 2 Main effect plot of mean for hardness

VII. CONCLUSION
Flux has significant effect on the hardness with contribution of 63.86 % and whereas current and electrode stick out
travel speed has insignificantly effected with contribution of 25.19 % and 7.87 %. Hardness of mild steel of grade
IS 2062 will be the maximum when we using current 350 ampere, electrode stick out 25 mm and flux 3.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor Mr. Deepak Gupta, Assistant Professor of
Mechanical Engineering Department, Glaxy Gloable group of institutions for his exceptional patience, for all his help
and for being there for me through all good and bad times. Thank you for all what you have done for me and for
providing me with valuable feedback in my research which made it stronger and more valuable. I am sincerely
grateful for his priceless support and contribution toward my research.
REFERANCES

[1]. R. S. Parmar, Welding processes and technology, 2nd Ed, 2008.

[2]. A.M. Mercado, V.M. Hirata and M. L. Munoz (2005) Influence of the chemical composition of flux on the
microstructure and tensile properties of submerged-arc welds, Journal of Materials Processing Technology,
Volume169, issue 3, pp. 346351.
[3]. V.B. Trindade, R.S.T. Mello, J.C. Payo and R.P.R. Paranhos (2005) Influence of Zirconium on
Microstructure and Toughness of Low-Alloy Steel Weld Metals, International Journal of Advanced
Manufacturing Technology, Volumel5, pp. 284286.
[4]. P. Kanjilal, T.K. Pal and S.K. Majumdar (2006) Combined effect of flux and welding parameters on
chemical composition and mechanical properties of submerged arc weld metal. Journal of Materials
Processing Technology, Volume 171, issue 2, pp. 223231.
[5]. S. Kumanan, J.E.R. Dhas and K. Gowthaman (2007) Determination of submerged arc welding process
parameters using Taguchi method and Regression analysis Indian Journal of Engineering and Material
Science, Volume14, pp. 177183.
[6]. S. Datta, A. Bandyopadhyay and P.K. Pal (2007) Application of Taguchi philosophy for parametric
optimization of bead geometry and HAZ width in SAW using a mixture of fresh flux and fused flux,
International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Volume36, pp. 689698.
[7]. A. Singh, S. Datta, S.S. Mahapatra, T. Singha and G. Majumdar (2011) Optimization of bead geometry of
submerged arc weld using fuzzy based desirability function approach, International Journal of Advanced
Manufacturing Technology, Volume24, pp. 3544.

www.ijlret.com

34 | Page