Prediction and comparison of the dilution and heat affected zone in submerged arc welding (SAW) of low carbon alloy steel joints

The present investigation has been made to realize the effect of submerged arc welding (SAW) process parameters in 'Purging' condition and has been compared to the traditional 'as weld' condition. It uses open-circuit-voltage (OCV), wire-feed-rate (WFR), welding-speed (WS) and nozzle-to-plate distance (NPD) as process parameters. The design of experiments is utilized to carryout efficient experimentation and multiple regression analysis is to build mathematical models to foresee responses like dilution and heat affected zone. The performance evaluation of control levels, which has been shown through the S/N ratio, its significance, along contributions is computed via ANOVA. The models are developed to build correlation among the parameters. The Grey Relational Analysis (GRA) is to normalize and optimize the results. These developed models are adequate; GRA responses are agreeable and are found to be within limits through confirmation tests. Results indicate that the best combination for Heat Affected Zone (HAZ) minimization is lower level of OCV and higher levels of WFR, WS and NPD; High dilution, in percentage, in both welding conditions. The Purging condition values are shown better than the as-weld condition values. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.