Microstructure investigations and optimisation of maraging steel parts for UAV applications
International Journal of Intelligent Unmanned Systems
ISSN: 2049-6427
Article publication date: 24 February 2022
Abstract
Purpose
Military and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) applications like rocket motor casings, missile covers and ship hulls use components that are made of maraging steel. Maraging steel has properties that are superior to other metals, making it more suitable for the fabrication of such components. A grey relational analysis (GRA) that is based on the Taguchi method has been utilised in the current study to optimise a laser beam welding (LBW) process. Further aspects such as GRA's optimum ranges and percentage contributions were also estimated.
Design/methodology/approach
A Taguchi L16 orthogonal array is utilised to design and conduct the experiments. Laser power (LP), welding speed (WS) and focal position (FP) are the three parameters are chosen for the process of welding. The output responses are the upper width of the heat-affected zone (HAZup), the upper width of the fusion zone (FZup) and the depth of penetration (DOP). The effect of the above key parameters on the responses was examined using an analysis of variance (ANOVA).
Findings
The results of ANOVA reveal that the parameter that has the most influence on the overall grey relational grade (GRG) is the FP. Finally, metallographic characterisation and a microstructural analysis are conducted on the weld bead geometry to demarcate the zone of HAZ and fusion zone (FZ).
Originality/value
As the most important criteria for LBW of maraging steels is the provision of higher DOP, higher FZ width and lower heat-affected zone, the study intended to prove the applicability of GRA technique in solving multi-objective optimisation problems in applications like defence and unmanned systems.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Director, Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), Kanchan Bagh, Hyderabad for providing LBW and testing facilities for experimentation during the research work.
Citation
Indukuri, R.P.K.V., Penmetsa, R.M.R., Chalamalasetti, S.R. and Siriyala, R. (2022), "Microstructure investigations and optimisation of maraging steel parts for UAV applications", International Journal of Intelligent Unmanned Systems, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJIUS-11-2021-0136
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited