Abstract
ABSTRACT In the submerged arc welding process, weld quality is greatly affected by welding variables. This study aims to determine the effects of welding current (I), arc voltage (V), welding speed (S) on the values of the bead width (BW), bead reinforcement (BR), and bead penetration (BP) measured values from the experiments and the predicted values from the models. The experimental runs are done on the three-level factorial design of three process variables. The mathematical models are developed by applying the multiple linear regression analysis technique (method) using SPSS and Excel software applications. The predicted values of the weld bead geometry dimensions (parameters) are calculated and compared with the measured ones to verify the developed mathematical models' accuracy. The results indicate that the models predict the weld bead geometry dimensions adequately within the limits of the welding variables being used. After predicting the weld bead values, the effects of these variables on bead geometry dimensions are studied. The results reveal that welding current is the most significant variable affecting BW and BP. The accuracy of the developed mathematical models for the BW, BR, and BP is 98.81%, 94.23%, and 96.86%, respectively. KEYWORDS: SAW; Process Variables; Factorial Design; Regression Analysis; Weld Bead