Optimisation of laser welding parameters for welding of P92 material using Taguchi based grey relational analysis

Creep strength enhanced ferritic (CSEF) steels are used in advanced power plant systems for high temperature applications. P92 (Cr–W–Mo–V) steel, classified under CSEF steels, is a candidate material for piping, tubing, etc., in ultra-super critical and advanced ultra-super critical boiler applications. In the present work, laser welding process has been optimised for P92 material by using Taguchi based grey relational analysis (GRA). Bead on plate (BOP) trials were carried out using a 3.5 kW diffusion cooled slab CO2 laser by varying laser power, welding speed and focal position. The optimum parameters have been derived by considering the responses such as depth of penetration, weld width and heat affected zone (HAZ) width. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) has been used to analyse the effect of different parameters on the responses. Based on ANOVA, laser power of 3 kW, welding speed of 1 m/min and focal plane at −4 mm have evolved as optimised set of parameters. The responses of the optimised parameters obtained using the GRA have been verified experimentally and found to closely correlate with the predicted value.