Abstract
Purpose: The primary objective of this research is to develop the optimal operating conditions as well as their associated design spaces for a Cryogenic Submerged Arc Welding(SAW) process by improving its quality and productivity simultaneously. Methods: In order to investigate functional relationships among quality characteristics and their associated control factors of an SAW process, a stepwise design of experiment(DoE) method is proposed in this paper. Based on the DoE results, not only a multi-dimensional design space but also a safe operating space and normal acceptable range(NAR) by integrating statistical confidence intervals were demonstrated. In addition, the optimal operating conditions within the proposed NAR can be obtained by a robust optimal design method. Results: This study provides a customized stepwise DoE method (i.e., a sequential set of DoE such as a factorial design and a central composite design) for Cryogenic SAW process and its statistical analysis results. DoE results can then provide both the main and interaction effects of input control factors and the functional relationships between the input factors and their associated output responses. Maximizing both the product quality with high impact strength and the productivity with minimum processing times simultaneously in a case study, we proposed a design space which can provide both acceptable productivity and quality levels and NARs of input control factors. In order to confirm the optimal factor settings and the proposed NARs, validation experiments were performed. Conclusion: This research may provide significant contributions and applications to many SAW problems by preparing a standardization of the functional relationship between the input factors and their associated output response. Moreover, the proposed design space based on DoE and NAR methods can simultaneously consider a number of quality characteristics including tradeoff between productivity and quality levels.