Papers by Keyword: Taguchi Method

Abstract: An increase in demand for industrial gears has instigated the escalating uses of plastic-matrix composite, particularly carbon or glass fibre reinforced plastics as gear materials to enhance the mechanical strength and thermal resistance of plastic gear. Nevertheless, the production of large quantity of these synthetic fibres reinforced composites has posed serious threat to ecosystem. This study is conducted to study the applicability and practical ability of using bamboo fillers particularly in plastic gear manufacturing as opposed to synthetic fibres. The Taguchi method is used to investigate the effects of gear test rig parameters and bambo filler reinforcement on wear behaviour of injection moulded plastic gear. The results revealed that the use of natural fillers such as bamboo in the plastic gear industry is practical and economically viable.

Abstract: Optimization of injection molding parameters provided a solution to achieve strength improvement of kenaf filler polypropylene composites. Since, molded polymers composites possibility being effected by machine parameters and other process condition that may cause poor quality of composites product. Thus in this study, composite of kenal filler reinforced with thermoplastic polypropylene (PP) were prepared using a sigma blade mixer, followed by an injection molding process. To determine the optimal processing of injection parameters, Taguchi method with L₂₇ orthogonal array was used on statistical analysis of tensile properties of kenaf/PP composites. The results obtained the optimum parameters which were injection temperature 190°C, injection pressure 1300 bar, holding pressure 1900 bar and injection rate 20cm3/s. From the analysis of variance (ANOVA), both flow rate and injection temperature give highest contribution factor to the mechanical properties of the kenaf/PP composites.

Abstract: The purpose of this research is to optimise the processing condition of injection moulding towards samples made from polypropylene-nanoclay-bamboo fibre with compatibilizer. The defects that have been controlled upon the optimisation were shrinkage and warpage. The selection of injection moulding processing condition was packing pressure, melt temperature, screw speed and filling time. The research started by drying the bamboo fibres at 120°C. Then, the 1 wt. % fibres were mixed with 79 wt. % of polypropylene, 15 wt. % of compatibilizer and 5 wt. % of nanoclay. The mixing process was performed by using Brabender Plastograph machine. After that, pallets were produced by using Plastic Granulator machine for injection moulding process. The optimisation process was accomplished by adopting the Taguchi method. According to the results, the value of warpage defect between compounding for 1 wt. % fibre and without fibre content was not significant. However the optimum setting of 170°C melt temperature, 35% packing pressure, 30% screw speed and 2 seconds filling time can significantly reduce shrinkage. In conclusion, the optimum processing condition of polypropylene-nanoclay, fibre bamboo had been achieved, and the existence of fibre obviously giving a promising manufacturing opportunity to improve the quality of the injected moulding products.

Abstract: Roll forming is a kind of plastic forming process in which a steel strip is bent by several sets of rolls gradually into the desired shape. The products are cold roll forming steels with various sections. Roll forming is one of the most widely used processes in the world for forming metal. Roll forming is a complex deformation process, which involves large displacement, finite strain and the problems of contact and friction between strip and rolls. This process exhibits obvious geometry, physical and boundary nonliterary. The complex processes contain many aspects such as geometry, kinematics and dynamics, etc. The forming process involves not only transverse bending, but also other additional deformations. In this paper, a group of simulations have been established with ABAQUS software to studying about the spring back and bow defect in the roll forming process. At last, experiments have been accomplished to verify the simulation results. The simulations based on the ABAQUS software calculate the spring back angles and bow displacements. The bow displacement of the roll forming process is considered relate to many factors include inner distance between stands, gaps of the rolls, channel width, the material of the sheet, sheet thickness and so on.To verify the bow displacement in roll forming process, 9 groups of simulations were set up use Taguchi method to figure out the influence on bow displacement of every factor. The longitudinal strain also has been learned in the present study.

Abstract: The study presents a method on producing defect-free polyvinyl alcohol-gelatin (PVAG) nanofibers by considering multiple morphological characteristics of the produced nanofibers using the Taguchi method. Aside from minimizing the average fiber diameter, the method was also used to produce consistent, monodispersed PVAG nanofibers without the usual defects of beading and splattering. The experiments are performed considering the effect of polymer composition (PVAG ratio and solvent ratio of water, formic acid, and acetic acid H₂O:FA:HAc) and process factors (tip-to-collector distance TCD and solution flow rate) on fiber morphology. Fiber morphology is measured in terms of 4 responses: average fiber diameter, standard deviation of fiber diameter, occurrence of beading, and occurrence of splattering. Results show that maximum overall desirability for electrospinning PVAG nanofibers at smallest average diameter and deviation (26.10 ± 9.88 nm) with chance of moderate beading and zero splattering is predicted at PVAG mass ratio of 6.5:3.5, H₂O:FA:HAc solvent volume ratio of 4:4:2, TCD of 12.5 cm, and flow rate of 1 ml h^-1. Results of confirmatory run agree with the predicted factor levels at maximum desirability, with average fiber diameter and standard deviation measured to be 26.95 ± 6.39 nm. PVAG nanofibers of the confirmatory run are also both bead-and splatter-free. Results suggest the application of Taguchi method can offer a robust and rapid approach in deriving the conditions for production of new and high-quality PVAG nanofibers for tissue engineering scaffolds.

Abstract: This study investigated the ambient blooming behavior of additives and mechanical properties of vulcanized natural rubber (VNR) loaded with non-ionic surfactants coco diethanolamide (CDEA) and glycerol monostearate (GMS). Taguchi method and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to determine the significant main effects of additives on bloom rates and mechanical properties of VNR. Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) spectra of VNR surface confirm the presence of chemical functional groups of stearic acid, paraffin wax, used oil, CDEA, and GMS. The amount of bloom (M_B) versus square root of time (t^1/2) plot yields two linear regions corresponding to distinct bloom rates which suggest that the blooming behavior of additives follows a non-Fickian mechanism. High loadings of stearic acid, used oil, and paraffin wax increase the bloom rates due to migration of excess unreacted additives to the surface of VNR. Also, additives easily diffuse out of the VNR due to softening of the rubber matrix. High loadings of sulfur and CDEA consistently decrease the bloom rates because of the increase in crosslink density and increase in filler dispersion, making it difficult for additives to bloom out of rubber matrix. High loading of sulfur significantly improves the tensile and compression moduli of VNR. Meanwhile, high loadings of ZnO and used oil significantly decrease the tensile and compression moduli of VNR. Sulfur as a crosslinking agent increases the crosslink density which resulted to increase mechanical properties. Excess used oil and zinc stearate, reaction product of ZnO and stearic acid, on the VNR matrix resulted to rubber matrix softening and decrease in mechanical properties.

Abstract: In precision milling, the quality of surface finish is an important requirement for workpiece machined. Thus, optimization of cutting parameters is important for controlling the surface quality. In this study, the Taguchi method is used to find the effects of milling parameters on surface roughness in precision milling of 3J33 maraging steel. A model, which is based on the milling parameters and tool geometry, is also proposed in order to predict the surface topography. The experimental results show that milling speed has significant effect on the surface roughness among the milling parameters. Besides, tool geometry and material deformation play important roles in the surface topography.

Abstract: This paper discusses the effect of weld parameters on peak temperature during the friction stir welding process. The weld parameters such as rotational speed and welding speed are considered for this analysis. Friction stir welding trails were conducted on 6 mm AA6061-T6 plates for different combination of process parameters using Taguchi orthogonal array. Thermocouples were inserted into the plates at different distances from weld center line and temperatures were measured during friction stir welding at regular intervals. Using the Taguchi method, Peak temperature is calculated for untried combinations of process parameters. Graphs depicting the effect of different weld parameters on the peak temperature were presented and analyzed.

Abstract: In this investigation, AA 2618 is taken as the matrix material and Si₃N₄ (Silicon Nitride), AlN (Aluminium Nitride) and ZrB₂ (Zirconium Boride) are taken as the reinforcement material. The reinforcements are mixed with the matrix in various X weight percentages (wt %) (X=0, 2, 4, 6, 8) by stir casting method. According to the ASTM standard AA 2618 composites were prepared with various wt % to find the mass loss in erosion test. The samples were imposed with various input conditions to obtain minimum mass loss for AA 2618 composites. Taguchi method was used to find the maximum influenced process parameter for mass loss and ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) method was adopted for finding the percentage of contribution of each process parameters

Abstract: Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is a solid state joining technique for both similar and dissimilar combination of materials. However, there is a scope in optimizing the process parameters involved in the FSW process. Taguchi based Grey Relational Analysis (GRA) has an impact in better optimization results when compared with other optimization techniques. In this present work totally 9 samples of single pass friction stir welded aluminium alloy were taken for the optimization process. The samples were subjected to various tool speeds and traverse speeds by keeping the axial force as constant. The experiments were planned using Taguchi’s orthogonal array selector in order reduce the multi responses involved in the FSW process. The final optimized values were correlated with the experimental values. It is revealed from results that the optimized process parameter showed a good agreement with the experimental values. The present work has also proved the feasibility of GRA in combination with Taguchi technique for better enhancement in the weldment and optimization of the process parameters.