Optimization of Lead Patenting Process for High Carbon Steel Wires

Abstract

The optimization of lead patenting heat treatment process of high carbon steel wires is done using Taguchi methodology. The experiments have been carried out on an electric powered furnace in industrial conditions. The L18 orthogonal array is used for optimization. This array consists of four input process parameters, i.e., type of steel, wire diameter, lead bath temperature and transformation time. The responses of lead patenting process are ultimate tensile strength (UTS), torsion strength (TS) and reduction in area (RA) of patented wire. The analysis of variance is applied to study the contribution of input process parameters in lead patenting process. The multiple regression equations are formulated for predicting values of UTS, TS and RA for a set of input process parameters. The optical microscopic images of all samples have been evaluated for percentage of pearlite phase in lead patented wires using software. The results of optical microscopic images analysis are compared with results obtained from Taguchi technique.