




































 

 

                  ISSN : 2693 6356 

2020 | Vol 3 | Issue 3 

 

 

STAINLESS STEEL MIG WELDING PARAMETER 

OPTIMIZATION USING THE TAGUCHI METHOD 
Dr.K. Thiruppathi 

1
, Mr.P. Naresh 

2
, Dr.K. Hari 

3
 

1,2,3
Assistant professor,  PSN Institute of Technology and Science, 

Tirunelveli, Tamilnadu, India  

SCAD College of Engineering and Technology, Cheran Mahadevi, Tirunelveli, Tamilnadu, India 

 

 
Abstract: 

MIG The gas flow rate, current, AC voltage, fill rod diameter, Electrode size, Arc travel speed, 

Electrode location, and Electrode extension all contribute to the final welded product's strength. 

However, gas velocity, voltage, and current are very significant variables. The effect of gas flow 

rate, current, and filler rod diameter on the strength of the weld for different materials has been 

the subject of much study. The influence of a parameter on the tensile strength of a weld 

specimen may be seen in the S/N ratio. The Taguchi technique was used to determine the 

optimal parameters for 1.9 orthogonal arrays. 

Keywords: 1.9 orthogonal arrays, S/N ratio, UTM, SS-202, MIG 

 

 

 

 

 

Welding 

1 By using heat to cause fusion, welders 

link metals together. The junction is 

formed when molten metal is combined 

with a filler substance and then cooled. 

To protect the finished good from being 

oxidized or polluted, a welding shield is 

utilized. MIG arc, electric arc, gas flame, 

laser, electron beam, ultrasound, and 

friction are all viable energy options. 

Welding is possible in every 

environment, even air under pressure and 

outer space. 

 

 

 

 

 

2 Geometry 

Various weld joint are, 

1. Lap joint 

2. Butt joint 

3. Corner joint 

4. Edge joint and 

5. T joint 
The shape may be U and V Common welding 

joint types, 

1. Corner weld 

2. Lap weld 

3. Fillet T weld 

4. Full penetration T weld 



 

 

5. Butt weld square joint 

6. Butt weld V joint 

 

3 Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) 

 
The two types GMAW are MIG 

welding, MAG welding. Here Electric 

arcs are formed between consumable 

MIG wire electrodes and the work piece 

that is generated and melt the metal and 

join. Through the wire electrode a 

shielding gas feeds through the welding 

gun. The process can be automatic or 

semi-automatic. A constant current and 

alternating current may be used. The 

metal transfer may be four types, 

1. Short circuiting 

2. Globular 

3. Pulsed spray and 

4. Spray 

Steel is having fasting welding time 

compare with other metals. 

The cost of inert gas is limited by the 

use of semi-inert gas CO2. Now the 

preferred welding is GMAW, because of 

its versatility, speed and the relative ease 

of adapting the process to robotic 

automation. 

4 Development of GMAW 

It was started on 19
th

 century by 

Hamphry, after Hamphry the short 

pulsed electronic arc was discovered by 

Davy on 1800. Continuous electric arc is 

used in 1802 by Petrov. 

Initially carbon electrodes were used 

in carbon arc welding on 1890. In the 

year of 1920 metal electrodes has been 

invented by Nikolay. An early 

predecessor of GMAW was invented by 

P. O. Nobel. The direct current with a 

bare electrode wire is used to regulate 

the feed rate. It that time shielding gas 

was not used to protect the weld upto 

the later decade. In the year of 1948, 

GMAW was developed by Battelle 

Memorial Institute. Here a small 

diameter electrode and a constant 

voltage power source developed by H.E. 

Kennedy. It creates high deposition 

rate, bur the cost of inert gas is high. 

In 1953 CO2 was used in welding. In 

1958 and 1959 short arc variation of 

GMAW was released, which increase 

the versatility and the ability to used thin 

materials. 

GMAW is most suitable for industrial 

application mainly in sheet metal and 

automobile industry. It is also popular 

for automated welding, where robots 

handle the work pieces and the welding 

gun to accelerate manufacturing. 

5 Applications 

It is mainly used in Industry particularly 

Pipe line, Ship, Sheet metal, Boiler or 

Steel structures and Automobile and 

Home improvement sector industry. 

6 Stainless Steel families 

1. Austenitic stainless steel 

2. Ferritic stainless steel 

3. Martensitic stainless steel 

4. Duplex stainless steel 



 

 

7 Stainless Steel – 202 

Similar to A 240/SUS 302 SS, it is a Cr-

Ni-Mn Stainless. Low temperatures bring 

forth SS 202's exceptional toughness. It's 

durable, resistant to corrosion, and strong 

because to its high precipitation hardening 

grades. When machined, grade 202 

stainless steel forms lengthy, sticky chips. 

Even in its annealed state, that can be 

machined. To achieve complete martensite 

condition during heat treatment, the 

material must be soked at 10380C 

(19000F) for 30 minutes before being 

cooled to below 160C (660F). The only 

way to connect this metal is using 

Oxyacetylene. AWS E/ER630 is suggested 

as a filler. Soaking for an hour at 11770C 

(21500F) is necessary before forging. 

Below 10100C (18500F), forging is not 

recommended. 

 
 

8 Lecturer Survey 

 S. V. Sapakal et al 
[1]

 et al. has 

done the work MS C20 material 

and optimize the welding 

parameters such as welding 

current, welding voltage, 

welding speed.by Taguchi 

Orthogonal array. 

 \Raghuram Pradhan et al 
[2]

. 

Investigated TIG and MIG 

welding on SS grades 202 & 304 

of dimensions (40×50×6) mm. 

TIG uses argon and helium gases 

to protect the weld pool while 

MIG uses CO2gas. The tensile 

value, bending value MIG is 

higher than the TIG. But the 

grain size is different. 

 Rishav Sen et al 
[3]

. Reviewed 

the analyses of the fatigue need 

the heat affected zone only 

fatigue concentration occurs. 

Welding of dissimilar metals is 

comparison to similar metals due 

to formation of weaker 

intermetallic components with 

micro structure which revealed 

fatigue concentration. 

 Vijaya Sankar. B et al 
[4]

. 

Reported The optimum 

parameters are identified from 

the variable parameters based on 

the weldability of high strength 

stainless Steel on MIG welding 

are Weld Voltage 27 (V), Weld 

current 130 (amp) and Gas flow 

rate 17 (lit/min) with the 

Electrode wire diameter of 0.8 

mm. if the gas flow rate and 

voltage increased here can get 

best result such as best tensile 

strength and hardness while 

decreasing the electric current. 

 Arunkumar Sivaraman et al 
[5]

. 

Investigate optimization process 

of MIG welding for AA219-T87 

using Taguchi L9 array. The 

optimized parameter finding is 

current = 30A, voltage = 25V, 

welding speed = 185 mm/sec. 

 N. Ghosh et al 
[6]

 optimized MIG 

welding on AISI 316 L 

austenitic stainless steel. The 

optimized parameter is current = 

10A, gas flow rate = 20 

liter/min, nozzle to plate distance 

15mm. 

 S. D. Ambekar et al 
[7]

 has done 

MIG welding on the parameters 

by ANNOVA. The optimized 

parameter are welding speed 

46.61%, welding current 

21.24%, wire dia= 27.25% and 

the erroe is found to be 4.90%. 

 K. Arul Raj et al 
[8]

 investigate 

minimum wear rate for Taguchi 

method on orthogonal array and 

S/N ratio was employed to 

investigate wear behaviour of 

AISI 202. It was done above 

400
0
C. 

9 Taguchi Method 

Steps involved in Taguchi method, 



 

 

1. Identify the main function and side effects. 

2. Identify the noise factors, testing condition and quality 

3. To find objective function to be optimized 

4. Identify he control factors and their levels 

5. Select a suitable Orthogonal Array and construct the Matrix. 

6. Conduct the Matrix experiment. 

7. Examine the data; predict the optimum control factor levels and its 

performance. 

8. Conduct the verification experiment 

 

 
Table No.1 L9 orthogonal array 

 

Sl.No. A B C 

1 1 1 1 

2 1 2 2 

3 1 3 3 

4 2 1 2 

5 2 2 3 

6 2 3 1 

7 3 1 3 

8 3 2 1 

9 3 3 2 

 

 

The following process parameter are 

studied for the 

 
1. Welding Current (amp) 

2. Arc Voltage (volt) 

3. Gas Flow Rate (lit/min) 

10 MIG welding 

It is a process in which electric 

arcs are formed between 

consumable electrode and work 

piece. 

11 Equipment needed 

1. Welding gun 

2. Welding power supply 

3. Welding electrode wire 

4. Shield 

12 Welding gun and wire feed unit 

 
Welding gun consist of, 

1. Contact tip 

2. Control switch 

3. Gas nozzle 

4. Power cable 

5. Electrode conduit and linear 

6. Gas hose 

7. The shielding gas flow 

8. Wire feed unit 

9. Electric power 

Contact tip is need up of copper and is 

connected to the welding power source 

through power cable and transmits the 

electrical energy to the electrode while 

directing it to the weld area. On the way 

to contact tip, the electrode conduit 

linear protects and guides the wire, 

which helps from shielding and 

uninterrupted wire feed, through the 

nozzle only shield gas flows into the 

welding zone. Consistent flow is must 



 

 

require for wire flow, which is molten 

weld pool. 

The gas is supplied to the nozzle from 

tank of shielding gas with hose. Some 

times which hose is used to cool the 

gun. The electrode is supplied by wire 

fixed unit driving it through the conduct 

and on to the contact tip , feed rate of 

wire can vary with respect to are length 

and voltage. Wire fed rate is 30m/min, 

but feed rate for semi-automatic GMWA 

range from 2 to 10m/min. 

13 Tool Style: 

 
The Semi-automatic air cooled holder is 

generally used pressurized air is sent to 

through circulates to maintain moderate 

temperatures. 

Lap and Butt joints are in need of lower 

current levels to make. The second type 

of electrode holder is semi-automatic 

water cooled type. High current is 

needed for welding T or corner joints. 

The third type is water cooled automatic 

electrode holder. 

14 Power Supply 

 
A large change in heat input and current 

in case for any change in arc length. The 

wire electrode melt quickly due to 

shorter are length/ the arc length must be 

a constant. To achive this constant 

power source is used in combination 

with an are voltage controlled wire feed 

unit. 

The arc length is maintained by 

adjusting wire feed rate. Rarely the 

coupled effect of constant power source 

and constant wire feed rate is rarely 

used. Alternating current rarely used 

with GMAW instead of that DC is 

employed and the electrode is positively 

changed. Faster melting of feed wire is 

created by high heat concentration of 

anode which increases welding speed 

and weld penetration. While using 

special emissive coated electrode the 

polarity can be reversed. A negatively 

charged electrode in rarely used. 

15 Electrode 

The electrode metal and size is based on 

the metal being welded joint design, 

process variation and material surface 

condition. Electrode selection is based 

on the mechanical properties of weld 

and weld quality finally finished metal 

have the same property of base 



 

 

metal with no defects such as 

discontinuities and porosity. To 

prevent oxygen porosity electrodes must 

contain Si, Mn, Ti and Al. To avoid 

nitrogen porosity Ti and Zr are used. 

The diameter of electrode may vary from 

0.7 to 2.4 mm. Smallest electrodes 

generally upto 1.14 mm. 

16 Shielding Gas 

It is necessary for gas metal arc welding 

to prevent the welding area from 

atmosphere gas such as N
2
 and O

2
. 

 

Figure 1 GMAW System setup 

 
 

17 Welding Process 

Butt joint has been made under various condition of welding as given L9 orthogonal array of 

Taguchi method. 
 

Figure 2 Before Welding 



 

 

 

 

Figure 3 During Welding 
 

Figure 4 After Welding 

18 UTM 

It is used to that the tensile strength 

and compression strength of a metal. 

It consists of two units namely, 

1. Loading unit 2. Control Panel 

Loading Unit 

It consists of hydraulic cylinder with 

robust base side. The piston reciprocates 

up and down. In the left hand side the 

chain drive electric motor is available. 

The screw column maintained in the 

base can be rotates by mean of chain 

arrangement. There is a connection 

between lower table and upper head 

assembly which moves the piston up 

and down. Number bearings carry the 

assembly which slides over the column. 



 

 

Control Panel 

It has oil tank having slight glass to 

which the oil level. The displacement 

type pump has plunger. The pump is 

fixed from the bottom. In the right side 

of the tank electric motor driven pump is 

fitted on four studs with suction and 

delivery value nearly arrangement is 

available for tightening and losing the 

valve. When the return is closed and 

delivered by the pump is to cylinder by 

flow control volume. 

Upper and lower push is available on 

the switches at the control panel a 

switch is useful for upward and 

downward movement of the movable 

head. The ON and OFF switches are 

also available the piston pump has the 

transmission of main supply. 

19 Switch Adjustment 

The tonnage of load of the specimen is 

fixed according to the weight. 

20 Tensile Test 

Select the job and adjust upper and 

lower check adjustment. Then operate 

the upper end of the specimen is 

tightened by upper cross head grip. 

The keep the lower left valve is close 

is close position. Then open right 

valve and close it after lower table is 

lightly lifted. 

Then set the lower points to zero by 

mean of adjusting knob. This is used 

to move the dead weight of lower 

table. The locking is done by 

operating job working handle. 

After open left control volume 

when the specimen breaks it is 

known as breaking load. Ultimate 

load is maximum load. 

21 Stress – Strain Graph 
 

Figure 5 After Breakage of specimen 



 

 

 

 

Figure 6 Stress Strain curve 

Figure 7 Stress - Strain graphs of different materials 

Curve A denote brittle material. It is strong because it has little strain for long stress. Curve B 

shows stress material which is not ductile. Curve C is ductile. Curve D is plastic material. 

22 Ultimate Tensile Stress 
 

 

 

 
23 Methodology 

Experimental Setup 

 

Upper tensile stress = 
Ultimate strength 

Area 

The workpiece is SS202 of diameter 304.8 mm length 12 mm argon is used as shielding gas. 

The specimen welded by MIG welding as per the standard of ASTM A 276. 
 

Element C Cr Ni P Mn Si 

Composition % 0.12 18 4 0.06 7.5 0.9 

 

Table 1 Composition of SS 202 



 

 

Stainless Steel Properties 

 

Property Value (S.I) Units (S.I) 

Tensile Strength 515 MPa 

Yield Strength 275 MPa 

Elastic Modulus 201 GPa 

Poisson’s ratio 0.27-0.30 - 

Elongation at Break 40 % 

 

Table 2 SS 202 Properties 

 
Procedure 

The three parameter such as gas flow rate, current and filler rod diameter are important one. 

Initial setup, 

Current = 140 amp, Gas flow rate = 6 lit/min. and Voltage = 24 V 

The workpiece is welded and then tested in UTM. 

First workpiece, 

Current = 140 amp, Gas flow rate = 10 lit/min. and Voltage = 26 V 

Then the workpiece welded and tested. Then again, 

Current = 150 amp, Gas flow rate = 8 lit/min. and Voltage = 25 V 

Then welded and tested. Then again, 

Current = 150 amp, Gas flow rate = 10 lit/min. and Voltage = 26 V 

Then the workpiece is welded and tested. Then again, 

Current = 160 amp, Gas flow rate = 6 lit/min. and Voltage = 24 V 

Then the workpiece id welded and tested. Finally ultimate tensile strength is plotted in a 

table. 

 

Calculation 

Diameter, D = 12 mm and Length, L = 302. 4 mm 

Area = Π/4 D
2
 

= Π/4 12
2
 = 113.09 mm 

Welded joint 1 

Ultimate tensile strength = (Ultimate strength)/Area   = 37 × 10
3
 / 113.09 

= 309. 04 N/mm
2
 

Welded joint 2 

Ultimate tensile strength = 44×10
3
 / 13.09 

= 389.04 N/mm
2
 

Welded joint 3 

Ultimate tensile strength = 38×10
3
 / 13.09 



 

 

 
 

Welded joint 4 

= 309.48 N/mm
2
 

Ultimate tensile strength = 38×10
3
 / 13.09 

= 336.01 N/mm
2
 

Welded joint 5 

Ultimate tensile strength = 42×10
3
 / 13.09 

= 371.38 N/mm
2
 

Welded joint 6 

Ultimate tensile strength = 41×10
3
 / 13.09 

= 362.54 N/mm
2
 

Welded joint 7 

Ultimate tensile strength = 52×10
3
 / 13.09 

= 459.81 N/mm
2
 

Welded joint 8 

Ultimate tensile strength = 40.5×10
3
 / 13.09 

= 358.12 N/mm
2
 

Welded joint 9 

Ultimate tensile strength = 40×10
3
 / 13.09 

= 352.70 N/mm
2
 

Calculation of S/N ratio 

1 i 1 
𝑆𝑁𝐿 = −10 log [   ∑ 2] 

 
We know S/N ratio for larger is better, 

For first run: 

If n =1 

Welded joint 1 

𝑛 𝑛=0 𝑦i 

𝑆𝑁𝐿 = −10 log [ 
1

 
327.15 

] = 50.29 dB 

Welded joint 2 

𝑆𝑁𝐿 = −10 log [ 
1

 
389.04 

] = 51.79 dB 

Welded joint 3 

𝑆𝑁𝐿 = −10 log [ 
1

 
309.48 

] = 49.81 dB 

Welded joint 4 



 

 

𝑆𝑁𝐿 = −10 log [ 
1

 
336.01 

] = 50.52 dB 

Welded joint 5 

𝑆𝑁𝐿 = −10 log [ 
1

 
371.38 

] = 50.39 dB 

Welded joint 6 

𝑆𝑁𝐿 = −10 log [ 
1

 
362.54 

] = 51.18 dB 

Welded joint 7 

𝑆𝑁𝐿 = −10 log [ 
1

 
459.81 

] = 53.25 dB 

Welded joint 8 

𝑆𝑁𝐿 = −10 log [ 
1

 
358.12 

] = 51.08 dB 

Welded joint 9 

𝑆𝑁𝐿 = −10 log [ 
1

 
358.12 

] = 50.98 dB 

 

Result and Discussion 
 

Sl. 

No 

Current 

(A) 

Voltage 

(v) 

Gas flow rate 

(lit/min) 

Ultimate tensile 

strength 

(MPa) 

S/N ratio 

(dB) 

1 140 24 6 327.15 50.29 

2 140 25 8 389.04 51.79 

3 140 26 10 309.48 49.81 

4 140 24 8 336.01 50.52 

5 140 25 10 371.38 51.39 

6 140 26 6 362.54 51.18 

7 140 24 10 459.81 53.25 

8 140 25 6 358.12 51.08 

9 140 26 8 353.70 50.97 

 

Table 3 Result tabulations 

Here the array specifies nine experimental runs and has 3 columns. 



 

 

Graph 

Figure 8 Mean of S/N Ratio 

 

Level Current Voltage Gas flow rate 

1 50.63 51.35 50.85 

2 51.03 51.42 51.09 

3 51.76 50.65 51.48 

Delta 1.13 0.77 0.63 

Rank 1 2 31 

Table 4 

24 Conclusion 

Tensile strength of SS has been 

evaluated under different processing 

condition using 3
3
 full factorial 

experimental data applying Taguchi 

methodology. Initially L9 array is taken 

into account and put S/N ratio. 

A Maximum tensile strength is found out 

as, 

Current = 160 amp, Gas flow rate = 10 

lit/min and Voltage = 25V 

 

25 Application of Stainless Steel 

1. SS is mainly used in kitchen 

accessories, cutlery and 

cookware, sinks, grills and 

saucepans. 

2. It is mainly used in modern 

construction and exterior 

cladding for high impact 

buildings, counter top and 

backsplashes. 

3. Surgical implants and 

replacement joints such as 

artificial hips. SS pins and plates 

are used to fix broken bones. 

 

26 References 

 S. V. Sapakal et al 
[1]

 et al. has 

done the work MS C20 material 

and optimize the welding 

parameters such as welding 

current, welding voltage, 

welding speed.by Taguchi 

Orthogonal array. 

 \Raghuram Pradhan et al 
[2]

. 

Investigated TIG and MIG 

welding on SS grades 202 & 304 

of dimensions (40×50×6) mm. 

TIG uses argon and helium 

gases to protect the 



 

 

weld pool while MIG uses 

CO2gas. The tensile value, 

bending value MIG is higher 

than the TIG. But the grain size 

is different. 

 Rishav Sen et al 
[3]

. Reviewed 

the analyses of the fatigue need 

the heat affected zone only 

fatigue concentration occurs. 

Welding of dissimilar metals is 

comparison to similar metals due 

to formation of weaker 

intermetallic components with 

micro structure which revealed 

fatigue concentration. 

 Vijaya Sankar. B et al 
[4]

. 

Reported The optimum 

parameters are identified from 

the variable parameters based on 

the weldability of high strength 

stainless Steel on MIG welding 

are Weld Voltage 27 (V), Weld 

current 130 (amp) and Gas flow 

rate 17 (lit/min) with the 

Electrode wire diameter of 0.8 

mm. if the gas flow rate and 

voltage increased here can get 

best result such as best tensile 

strength and hardness while 

decreasing the electric current. 

 Arunkumar Sivaraman et al 
[5]

. 

Investigate optimization process 

of MIG welding for AA219-T87 

using Taguchi L9 array. The 

optimized parameter finding is 

current = 30A, voltage = 25V, 

welding speed = 185 mm/sec. 

 N. Ghosh et al 
[6]

 optimized 

MIG welding on AISI 316 L 

austenitic stainless steel. The 

optimized parameter is current = 

10A, gas flow rate = 20 

liter/min, nozzle to plate distance 

15mm. 

 S. D. Ambekar et al 
[7]

 has done 

MIG welding on the parameters 

by ANNOVA. The optimized 

parameter are welding speed 

46.61%, welding current 

21.24%, wire dia= 27.25% and 

the erroe is found to be 4.90%. 

 K. Arul Raj et al 
[8]

 investigate 

minimum wear rate for Taguchi 

method on orthogonal array and 

S/N ratio was employed to 

investigate wear behaviour of 

AISI 202. It was done above 

400
0
C. 


