Norasiah Muhammad, Yupiter HP Manurung*, Mohammad Hafidzi, Sunhaji Kiyai Abas, Ghalib Tham and Esa Haruman
The Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology, vol. 26, no. 8, pp.2365-2370, 2012

Abstract : "This paper presents an alternative method to optimize process parameters of resistance spot welding (RSW) towards weld zone development. The optimization approach attempts to consider simultaneously the multiple quality characteristics, namely weld nugget and heat affected zone (HAZ), using multi-objective Taguchi method (MTM). The experimental study was conducted for plate thickness of 1.5 mm under different welding current, weld time and hold time. The optimum welding parameters were investigated using the Taguchi method with L9 orthogonal array. The optimum value was analyzed by means of MTM, which involved the calculation of total normalized quality loss (TNQL) and multi signal to noise ratio (MSNR). A significant level of the welding parameters was further obtained by using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Furthermore, the first order model for predicting the weld zone development is derived by using response surface methodology (RSM). Based on the experimental confirmation test, the proposed method can be effectively applied to estimate the size of weld zone, which can be used to enhance and optimized the welding performance in RSW or other application."

Keyword : Multi objective taguchi method; Multi signal to noise ratio; Resistance spot welding; Response surface methodology