A fuzzy logic-based prediction model for fracture force using low-power fiber laser beam welding

Abstract

Laser beam welding is an advanced technique to join dissimilar materials together. Important laser joining parameters such as laser power, welding speed, and overlapping factor would determine the weld penetration of the joints. In the current study, a single-sided welding of a titanium alloy, Ti6Al4V, and a nickel-based alloy, Inconel 600, in a T-joint configuration was conducted using a continuous-wave, low-power fiber laser. The strengths of the welded joints were evaluated using pull tests. These results were used to build an intelligent fuzzy expert system model to predict the fracture force of the joint. Using MATLAB R2009b, the fuzzy logic development was made based on the Mamdani technique. Twenty-four real-time experiments were carried out and 18 numerical testing data were used to develop the fuzzy logic. The resulting viewer surfaces showed that the overlapping factor was the highest influencing laser welding parameter, followed by the welding speed and the laser power. The calculated relative error between the real and predicted results was 6.95% indicating acceptable results. This was supported by the goodness of fit value of 0.9849. The findings of this study have extended the knowledge of the fracture force prediction using the fuzzy expert system model.