Parameters Appraisal of Resistance Spot Welded SS304 Sheets Using WASPAS Method

Resistance spot welding (RSW) is quick joining process by employing heat generated by electric current resistance and widely adapted for mass manufacturing of automobiles. It produces poor-quality welds, which can be enhanced by precisely adjusting the control settings. Because of the intricacy inherent in a process with several interrelated welding factors, optimising RSW, which is often utilised as an affordable method in numerous industries, takes a long time. Small variations in values will have an impact on weld quality. This study deals with the weld strength analysis of RSW-welded SS 304. Three different factors, i.e., voltage, welding time, and up-sloping time, were considered while current was kept constant. Taguchi based trials were designed to study yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, maximum load (F), and energy consumed until the max. load is reached (UB). For optimising results, the Taguchi-WASPAS (Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment) technique was adopted, followed by ANOVA for significant factor determination. Finally, confirmatory experiments were conducted to check the precision of the predicted and experimental outcomes. It was found that welding voltage was the most significant constraint for maximising the weld strength.