Ethiopia Institute of Technology- Mekelle
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Item Investigation of the Effects and Optimization of Shielded Metal Arc Welding Process Parameters on Mechanical properties of ST37-2 Low Carbon Steel(Mekelle University, 2025-06-12) Hadera BerheShielded metal arc welding (SMAW) is the most widely used application process in manufacturing industries and maintenance components of low carbon steel (ST37). Due to simplicity, versatility and low price, it has always been the center of concern for industrialists and researchers. However, selection of optimum setting of welding parameters is the vital in achieving high performance of the welded joints. In this study, welding process parameters are the main factors that affect the quality of welded joints. This study aims to enhance the quality of the welding joints in industrial applications made from low carbon steel (ST37-2) by optimizing the welding parameters for SMAW. Current, electrode diameter and thickness of material were selected as input parameters of the study. SMAW welding has been carried out as per L9 orthogonal design considering an orthogonal array consists of three factors and three levels. The mechanical properties of the weld joint have been assessed in terms of ultimate tensile strength and yield strength of the fusion zone in the study. Grey relational analysis (GRA) based on Taguchi has been used to optimize the process parameters. ANOVA approach was performed to determine the effect (significant) of the SMAW parameters and optimal of the parameters using Minitab 20 software. The thickness of material was the most important parameter, followed by electrode diameter and current according to the ANOVA result with grey based Taguchi optimization methods (81.92%, 14.61% &2.82% respectively). The confirmatory test was conducted to verify the optimization process, which proved the grey-based Taguchi method to be easy and effective method for multi objective optimization of welded joints. The confirmation test revealed that the Taguchi grey relational analysis (GRA) methods of optimal SMAW process parameters increased the ultimate tensile strength and yield strength of the joints. The experimental outcome also demonstrated the viability of the Taguchi-based GRA approach for resolving multi-response optimization issues in the SMAW process. The error between the experimental and predication values for GRG is within the range. The validation outcomes obtained shows that the optimization technique is reliable tool for improving the quality responses of shielded metal arc welding. Clearly, this confirms good experimental and reproducibility of conclusion