Ferrite number optimisation for stainless steel cladding by FCAW using Taguchi technique

Application of the Taguchi Orthogonal Array in conducting the experiments and for the optimisation of critical cladding process parameters for obtaining desirable delta ferrite content in the claddings is reported in this paper. Considering the application dependent requirement of the ferrite content on the performance of the cladded structures, two quality characteristics viz., Smaller-the-better, and Nominal-the-best were adopted for analysing the effect of process parameters on the formation of delta ferrite. The experimental results show that welding current has the most significant effect on the formation of delta ferrite.