International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management (IJAEM)

Volume 3, Issue 6 June 2021, pp: 974-980 www.ijaem.net ISSN: 2395-5252

A Review on Optimization of MIG welding Process

Parameters using different Method
Ruturaj U. Kakade1, Baliram R. Jadhav2
1 P. G. Student, Department of Mechanical Engineering, RIT Islampur-415409, Maharashtra, India.
2 Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, RIT Islampur-415409, Maharashtra, India.

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Submitted: 25-05-2021 Revised: 01-06-2021 Accepted: 05-06-2021
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ABSTRACT: Metal inert gas welding (MIG) is Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) or Metal
used extensively in 25 years for joining and Active Gas (MAG). Developed for welding of
fabrication process due to its advantages such as aluminium and other non ferrous material in the
production efficiency, low heat input, less arc, year 1940s, but as it takes lower welding time
less heat effective zone. Different types of compared to other welding process. MIG
ferrous metals and non-ferrous metals can be join welding was soon applied to steels. The process
using MIG welding that cannot welded by non can be done with manual, semi-automatic and
traditional welding processes.This paper automatic welding process is flexible technique
represents the influence optimum values of suitable for both thin and thick section
process parameters like welding current, welding component. In this an arc is struck between the
voltage, feed rate, gas flow rate, welding speed, end of a wire electrode and the workpiece,
etc. on the factors like weld strength, weld pool, melting both of them to form a weld pool. The
tensile strength, DOP, microstructure of weld on weld splash are guarded from contamination by
different material by using different methods. atmosphere (i.e oxygen and nitrogen) using
Parameters can be optimized, and the best externally shielded gas of inert such as argon,
parameters are obtained for target quality. helium, CO2 or mixture of these. The wire serve
KEYWORDS:MIGWelding, ANOVA, Medium as both filler metal for the welding joint and heat
Carbon Steel, RSM, GRA, Taguchi Method, source (via the arc at the wire tip) so there is no
Optimization. external filler metal is needed. The wire is fed
through a copper contact tube which conducts
I.INTRODUCTION welding current into the wire. Wires may be
Metal Inert Gas Welding is arc welding solid (Simple drawn), or cored (composites
process that make use of a continuous heated formed from a metal sheath with powdered flux).
solid wire electrode and fed into the weld pool Gas Metal Arc Welding can be effectively used
from the welding gun. Process is also known by in all positions.

WORKING PRINCIPLE OF MIG WELDING:

Fig. 1 Working of MIG Welding

DOI: 10.35629/5252-0306974980 Impact Factor value 7.429 | ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Journal Page 974
 International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management (IJAEM)
Volume 3, Issue 6 June 2021, pp: 974-980 www.ijaem.net ISSN: 2395-5252

As shown in the fig. the filler wire in electrode diameters create weld with less
this process is in the form of coil and penetration but welder in width. The selection of
continuously fed towards the work during the the wire electrode diameter depends on the
process, at the same time inert gases like (Argon, thickness of the work piece to be welded, the
Helium, CO2) passes around the electrode. When weld penetration required, the position of
gas is supplied, it gets ionized and an arc is welding, the desired weld profile and the cost of
initiated in between electrode and work piece. electrode wire.Frequently used electrode sizes
The heat is generated, electrode melts due to heat are (mm): 0.8, 1.0, 1.2, 1.6 and 2.4. Each size has
and molten filler metal is falls on heated joint. a usable current range depending on wire
Continuous welding with coiled wire helps high composition and spray- type arc or short-
metal depositions rate and high welding speed. circuiting arc is used.[7]
The filler wire is electrode generally connected 2) Shielding Gas:
to positive polarity and workpiece is connected To protect the arc and molten weld,
to negative polarity. The power source could be pool from atmosphere oxygen and nitrogen is the
constant voltage DC power source. The gas primary function of shielding gas. If not properly
shield around it prevents weld against protected it forms oxides and nitrites and result
atmospheric co contamination and surface in weld deficiencies such as slag inclusion,
oxidation. Filler metal is added manually is not porosity and weld embrittlement. So the
required as it continuously fed through shielding gas and its flow rate have a substantial
consumable wire pool. effect on the following: Arc characteristics,
speed of welding, penetration Mode of metal
Application of MIG transfer, weld bead profile, cleaning of action
The MIG may be operated inautomatic and weld metal mechanical properties. Argon,
or semi-automatic modes. All commercially helium and argon-helium mixtures are used in
applicable such as carbon steel, low alloy steel, many applications for welding non-ferrous
stainless steel, aluminium, copper, titanium, and metals and alloys. Argon, Carbon dioxide and
nickel alloys can be welded in all position by mixture of these are used in Carbon steel.[7]
choosing appropriate shielding gas, electrode and 3) Arc Travel Speed:
welding variables. With advantage of minimum The rate at which the arc travels along
spatter, quality weld and welding of different the work- piece is known as the travel speed. It is
metal MIG welding popular applications are controlled by the machine in automatic welding
-Fabrication of steel structure and pressure vessel and by the welder in semiautomatic welding. The
-For most types of sheet metal welding effects of the travel speed are just about similar
-Automotive industry to the effects of the arc voltage. The penetration
MIG welding process parameters is maximum at a certain value and decreases as
The weld deposition and weld quality is the arc speed is varied. For a constant given
controlled by control variables in MIG welding. current, slower travel speeds proportionally
The Weld bead geometry, HAZ, depth of provide larger bead and higher heat input to the
penetration and overall weld quality and weld base metal because of the longer heating time.
deposition influence by following control The high input increases the weld penetration
variables. and the weld metal deposit per unit length and
Welding Current, Welding Voltage, Gas consequently results in a wider bead contour. If
Flow Rate, Electrode Size, Arc Travel Speed, the travel speed is too slow, unusual weld build-
Shielding Gas, wire feed rate. up occurs, which causes lower penetration,
porosity, slag inclusions, poor fusion and a rough
1) Electrode Size: uneven bead.
The diameter of electrode influences the The travel speed, which is an important
weld bead configuration (such as the size), bead variable in MIG, just like the wire speed
width, the depth of penetration and has a (current) and the arc voltage, is selected by the
consequent effect on the travel speed of welding. operator according to the thickness of the metal
A common rule, for the same welding current the being welded, the joint fit-up and welding
electrode diameter decreases then arc becomes position.[7]
more penetrating. One should have the smallest 4) Welding Current:
wire possible that provides the necessary The value of welding current used in
penetration of the weld to get the maximum MIG has the greatest effect on the deposition
deposition rate at a given current. The larger rate, the weld bead size, shape and penetration.

DOI: 10.35629/5252-0306974980 Impact Factor value 7.429 | ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Journal Page 975
 International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management (IJAEM)
Volume 3, Issue 6 June 2021, pp: 974-980 www.ijaem.net ISSN: 2395-5252

In MIG welding, metals are generally welded

with direct current polarity electrode positive 6)Weld Geometry:
(DCEP, opposite to TIG welding), because it Weld geometry has a direct influence
provides the maximum heat input to the work upon weld quality.Weld geometry is used for the
and therefore a relatively deep penetration can be selecting welding process. There can be various
obtained. When all the other welding parameters joints such as butt joint, lap, fillet or T-joint.
are held constant, increasing the current will Bevel may be single- V, double-V or U shape.
increase the depth and the width of the weld There can be various Welding positions such as
penetration and the size of the weld bead.[7] flat, horizontal, vertical, or overhead, etc.
Vertical and horizontal welding positions are
5) Welding Voltage: most commonly used. If the welding position is
The welding arc voltage is one of the difficult, then itincreases the problems in
most important variables in MIG that must be achieving the required weld quality.
held under control. The arc length is directly
related to the arc voltage when all the other II.LITERATURE REVIEW
variables such as the electrode sizes, the welding Vijaya Sankar B1, Daniel Lawrence
technique and the shielding gas held constant. I , Jayabal S3 work on AISI 310 metal which is
2

High and low voltages cause an unstable arc. The one of the most popular boiler and pressure
formation of excessive spatter and porosity, in vessel grade of steel plate which widely used in
fillet welds it increases undercut and produces industry for the high temperature application.
narrower beads with greater convexity which The factor that were studied are welding current,
causes due to excessive voltage, but an excessive welding voltage, gas flow rate on the weld joints
low voltage may causes porosity and overlapping were studied. AISI 310 was butt-welded by using
at the edges of the weld bead. The welding metal inert gas welding with filler material AISI
current increase when the electrode feeding rate 310 used with wire diameter 0.8 mm. The study
is increased and decreased as the electrode speed focuses analysis of welding parameter by GRA
is decreased with constant voltage power source, on MIG welding on AISI310 metal. The
other factors remaining constant. The arc voltage significant effect of weld parameter were studied
to be used depends on base metal thickness, by grey relational analysis.The factor are
welding position, type of weld, electrode consider as design factor by L9 orthogonal
composition and size, type of joint, shielding gas design to design the plan of the experiment.
composition and other factors.[7]

Fig. 2 Tensile Strength Results

Fig. 3 Hardness Results

DOI: 10.35629/5252-0306974980 Impact Factor value 7.429 | ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Journal Page 976
 International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management (IJAEM)
Volume 3, Issue 6 June 2021, pp: 974-980 www.ijaem.net ISSN: 2395-5252

Fig. 2 and 3 shows effect of process responses is welding current also it has been
parameter in MIG welding process which shows observed that inthe welded zone, the hardness
that as voltage value increases, tensile strength decreases with increasing welding current. It has
increases but hardness decreases and increase in been observed that with the increase of welding
value of gas flow rate increases tensile strength current, weld bead thickness increases and
but decreases hardness value. Welding current reinforcement decreases. The investigation of
130(Amp), welding voltage (27 V) and gas flow both HAZ and weldedzone microstructure have
rate 17(lit/min) with electrode diameter of 0.8 been done, result shows grain structure change
mm is optimal value. As a result the increasing from base metal to HAZ and HAZ to weld zone.
value of the Voltage and Gas flow rate improves The grain size is become more compact in the
the effectiveness of the process variables such as welded zone.
tensile strength and Hardness while the Minitab 17 has been used to determine the
decreasing value of Electric current. The value of number of runs required to get optimal values.
the tensile strength and hardness are widely L27 OA was used. Optimal values of variable
depends on the factor of Weld current. The used are welding current is 150Amp, welding
effects of Weld voltage, Current and Gas flow voltage 25 Volt, speed 5mm/sec and gas flow
rate on the weld joints were determined. rate 8 l/min. [2]
Experimental procedure derived by DOE and Ajit Hooda1*, Ashwani Dhingra2 and
effects are identified through Grey relational Satpal Sharma2studied process parameters such
analysis.[1] as welding voltage, current, wire speed and gas
Amit Ratan Biswasa1, Sadananda flow rate.develop a response surface model to
Chakrabortya2, ParthaSarathi Ghosha3, predict tensile strength at MIG welding of AISI
4
Dipankar Bosea was worked carried out on 1040. Response Surface Methodology (RSM)
plate welds stainless steel AISI 304 and medium was applied to optimizing the MIG welding
carbon steel 45C8 using gas metal arc welding process parameters to attain the maximum yield
(GMAW) process. The input process variables strength of the joint. Experiments were
considered for experimentation are include conducted based on face centred composite
welding current, welding voltage, speed and gas design matrix, three-level and four-factor. The
flow rate. yield strength, ultimate tensile test specimens were composed of two pieces
strength, weld zone hardness, weld bead each, and each piece was 300 mm  150 mm  8
thickness, reinforcement of welded joint have mm in size. AISI 1040. ER70S-6 filler wire with
been reported.Taguchi‟s Method has been diameter of 1.2mm was used as consumable
employed for design of experiment. Based on electrode.
ANOVA and S/N ratio analysis, result shows the
process parameter which significantly affects the

Fig. 4 Optimized Values of Input variables

The maximum yield strength, at the strength, and hardness of weld joint. The
optimum values of process variables-welding parameters are optimize using DOE method and
voltage, welding current, wire speed and gas having the best parameters combination for
flow rate was experimented. The longitudinal target quality. Analysis done using ANOVA, the
yield strength isgreater than the transverse yield optimization of variable done using GA and
strength.[3] ANN. From the ANOVA result it is observed
JigarShah1, GauravPatel2, Jatin that the gas p0ressure and welding current are
3
Makwana performed experiments and presents influencing parameter for tensile strength and
the influence of welding parameters like welding these two parameters are highly influencing
current, welding voltage, wire feed rate, Gas parameter compare to welding speed for
flow rate etc. on weld strength, ultimate tensile hardness.

DOI: 10.35629/5252-0306974980 Impact Factor value 7.429 | ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Journal Page 977
 International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management (IJAEM)
Volume 3, Issue 6 June 2021, pp: 974-980 www.ijaem.net ISSN: 2395-5252

Fig. 5 Main effects plot

The graph generated by use of has been used.OA,S/N ratio and ANOVA are
Minitab17 statistical software is useful to find applied to study the weld characteristics of
out optimum parameter value for response material & optimize the welding parameters. The
variable. The figure of main effect plot shows result shows optimal parameters for maximum
that high tensile strength will meet at gas tensile strength. The study done for effect of
pressure 18psi, welding current 190A and microstructure while welding of AISI 304 and IS
welding speed 4.5 m/min. fig. shows that high 2062,it is observed that welding current and
haedness value will meet at 18psi, welding welding voltage are major influencing parameter
current 190A and welding speed 4.5m/min.[4] on tensile strength of welded joint. The carbon
Santosh J. Bardeskar1,Shitole steel wire with diameter of 1.2mm was used as
2
Jagdish Studied influence of welding filler material and 5mm of plate
parameters like welding current, welding thickness.Singlepass on 150x35 mm plate with
voltage, Gas pressure on UTS of two dissimilar gas metal arc welding process and V-butt joint
material (AISI304 & IS2062) during welding. used with use of 100% argon gas was used as
For plan of experimentation Taguchi technique shielding gas.

Fig. 6 Von – Misses stress of Welded joint

The value of von- misses stresses Optimum welding condition for higher
developed in the weld joint in the model is tensile strength obtain by taguchi are at pressure
272.44MPa of tensile nature and 168.22MPa of of 18Psi, welding current 150Amp and welding
compressive nature. Optimization is done by voltage 25 Volt. Other then this shielding gas,
GRA and ANOVA. wire feed rate, diameter of electrode etc. are also

DOI: 10.35629/5252-0306974980 Impact Factor value 7.429 | ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Journal Page 978
 International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management (IJAEM)
Volume 3, Issue 6 June 2021, pp: 974-980 www.ijaem.net ISSN: 2395-5252

important control parameter in metal inert gas gas flow rate and nozzle to plate distance on the
welding process.[5] tensile strength of weld joint, microstructure of
Benazir Aftab1,Yogesh the joint & micro hardness of weld pool.The
2
Mishra Studied MIG welding of mild steel of tensile strength and hardness are mechanical
5mm thickness with process variables welding properties which were consider for work. It was
current, gas flow rate, nozzle to plate distance to found that preheat temperature has also most
get high strength. The experimentation designed significant effect on the hardness and tensile
with Taguchi L9 Orthogonal Array(OA).After strength. After study it was fount that with
performing welding, welded specimen were cut optimum values of welding current 124A,gas
for tensile test with dimension of 100mm x 25 flow rate 15l/min and preheat temperature
mm, which further cut in to „I‟ shape for tensile 275°C, the higher value of hardness and tensile
testing. The analysis of effect of welding current, strength was achieved.

Fig. 7 Pie Chart of Percentage Contribution

The percentage contribution of process review, following DoE techniques have been
parameter for hardness and tensile strength as mostly used to study and optimize the effects of
shown in chart. The preheat temperature process variables in MIG welding:
contribute maximum which is 74.22%, gas flow a.) Taguchi Orthogonal Array
rate contributes 13.33% which mainly b.) Full Factorial technique
responsible to affect tensile strength and the c.) Response Surface Methodology
welding current having minimum contribute d.) Fractional Factorial technique
12.22% which is minimum.[6] Analysis of Variance ANOVA is used to learn
the response of each process variable on the
III. DESIGN OF EXPERIMENT (DOE) response parameter. Software mostly used are
Design of Experiments, given by “MINITAB” and “Design Expert” for ANOVA
Ronald A. Fisher during the 1920s, is a well-built and DoE. Through mathematical model the
statistical technique to study the effect of correlation between input and output variables
numerous variables at the same time. By in the welding process is established.
designing the experiments using Taguchi
approach, one can fulfil the requirements of a IV.CONCLUDING REMARK
problem and optimize the process or product In this literature survey have been
design projects. Using this technique scientists, concluded that current is as effective parameter
engineers and researchers can be time efficient in in welding. After that welding speed and voltage
experimental investigations. In an experiment, can affect the welding.
DoE technique give all the possible combinations It is found that from the review paper
to detect the best combination. For this, various study when the welding current, voltage, gas
factors along with their levels are pinpointed. flow rate increases, the tensile strength
The main objective of a well-planned and decreases, but when welding speed increases, the
designed experiment is to know in a process tensile strength also increases.
which combination of variables influencing the For Design of Experiments various methods are
performance most so that one can find out the available but for more process parameters RSM
best level for that combination of those variables is suitable for optimization.
to get desired practical output in products. In the The Study found that the control factors
research papers considered for above literature had varying effects on the response variables.
DOI: 10.35629/5252-0306974980 Impact Factor value 7.429 | ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Journal Page 979
 International Journal of Advances in Engineering and Management (IJAEM)
Volume 3, Issue 6 June 2021, pp: 974-980 www.ijaem.net ISSN: 2395-5252

L9, L27 orthogonal arrays, S/N ratio analysis of

variance were used for study.

REFRENCES
[1]. Sankar, B.V., Lawrence, I.D. and Jayabal,
S., 2018. Experimental study and analysis
of weld parameters by GRA on MIG
welding. Materials Today:
Proceedings, 5(6), pp.14309-14316.
[2]. Biswas, A.R., Chakraborty, S., Ghosh,
P.S. and Bose, D., 2018. Study of
parametric effects on mechanical
properties of stainless steel (AISI 304) and
medium carbon steel (45C8) welded joint
using GMAW. Materials Today:
Proceedings, 5(5), pp.12384-12393.
[3]. Hooda, A., Dhingra, A. and Sharma, S.,
2012. Optimization of MIG welding
process parameters to predict maximum
yield strength in AISI 1040. International
journal of Mechanical engineering and
Robotics research, 1(3), pp.203-213.
[4]. Shah, J., Patel, G., Makwana, J. and
Chauhan, P., 2018. Optimization and
Prediction of MIG Welding Process
Parameters Using ANN. Gas, 150(170),
p.190.
[5]. Santosh J. Bardeskar,Shitole Jagdish.,
2020. Experimental Investigation, M.I.G.,
Optimization of Process Parameters and
Experimental Investigation MIG Welding
for Stainless Steel 304 and Mild Steel
2062. Vol-6 Issue-4 2020 IJARIIE-
ISSN(O)-2395-4396.
[6]. Aftab, B. and Mishra, Y., 2020.
Optimisation of Process Parameters for
MIG Welding byUsing Grey Relational
Analysis. International Journal of
Scientific Research & Engineering
Trends: Volume 6, Issue 4, July-Aug-
2020, ISSN (Online): 2395-566X
[7]. Ador Welding Limited, “Modern Arc
Welding Technology”, Oxford &IBH
Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd (Book)

DOI: 10.35629/5252-0306974980 Impact Factor value 7.429 | ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Journal Page 980