Received 20 August 2016
Revised 24 November 2016
Accepted 25 November 2016

Abstract

Weld bonding is a hybrid joining process used to produce weld joints between similar or dissimilar metallic materials. In this work, a systematic study has been undertaken to investigate the effect of the input process parameters on the weld joint quality of dissimilar materials i.e. austenitic stainless steel 304L and low carbon steel sheet, in terms of joint strength. Experiments were planned on the basis of response surface methodology technique with three control factor and their three levels of process parameters. Experimental results were used to develop a mathematical model to predict the tensile shear strength and peel strength of the weld joint. A mathematical model, correlating the process parameters and their interaction on responses, was also established. The developed model was validated with the confirmation test case experiment, and it has been observed that the developed model is capable to evaluate weld joint strength within the range of process parameters being used. Numerical optimization technique was applied to find out the optimal set of input parameters.