Taguchi Orthogonal Arrays

The orthogonal L9 array is very efficient in obtaining only a relatively small

amount of data and being able to translate it into meaningful and verifiable
conclusions, thus, leads to simplification to the procedure. [1]. Based on the
calculated degrees of freedom and minimum number of experiments required to
be conducted, we apply the L9 Orthogonal array for our problem. In a typical
orthogonal array, the general rule is that each level should have an equal
number of occurrences within each column.
For example:

1 1 1
1 2 2
1 3 3
2 1 2
2 2 3
2 3 1
3 1 3
3 2 1
3 3 2

The different factors which are taken into consideration are Moment of Inertia,
Youngs Modulus of the material and the Load on the front axle. The performance
parameters are Maximum deflection and maximum Von mises stress. Application
of Taguchi L9 array has reduced the minimum number of experiments (in our
case analysis in ANSYS Workbench) which would provide us the required
information of all the factors that affect the performance parameter. The
performance parameters and their associated levels are listed below.

Levels
Process Parameters Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
Load on the
axle(N) 58860 113952.96 53415.45
Young's
modulus(Gpa) 200 205 214
Moment of
Inertia(mm^4) 4178009.478 2144000 1427491.842

Minimum number of experiments to be conducted:

The minimum number of experiments required to conduct taguchi method is
calculated as follows.
N Taguchi = 1+ NV (L 1)---------------------------------------------------------------(1)
1+3(2)=7
Therefore, the minimum number of experiments to be conducted in order to
derive appropriate information on the effect of process parameters on the
performance parameter is 7.

Degrees of freedom:
By comparing the number of degrees of freedom required to the number of
degrees available among the arrays within the appropriate array series, we can
select the smallest orthogonal array that can still provide us with all the essential
information to make a comprehensive study of the quality characteristic
(maximum deflection and Von miss stress) and the impact upon it by the factors
(Youngs modulus, Load, Moment of Inertia) under investigation.
Number of levels for Moment of Inertia: 3
Number of levels for Youngs Modulus: 3
Number of levels for Load: 3
Total degrees of freedom for A*B*C= (Number of levels for factor A-1)* (Number
of levels for factor B-1)* (Number of levels for factor C-1)
(3-1)*(3-1)*(3-1)=8
Considering the degrees of freedom and minimum number of experiments, we
adopt the L9 array.

L9 ARRAY
The L9 array for maximum Von misses stress and Maximum deflection is:
Experiment Young's Moment of
No Load on the axle(N) modulus(Gpa) Inertia(mm^4)
1 58860 200 4178009.478
2 58860 205 2144000
3 58860 214 1427491.842
4 113952.96 200 2144000
5 113952.96 205 1427491.842
6 113952.96 214 4178009.478
7 53415.45 200 1427491.842
8 53415.45 205 4178009.478
9 53415.45 214 2144000

Analysis in ANSYS workbench is performed for the above 9 combinations and we

perform probability analysis on the obtained data.

Reference:
Taguchi methods: A hands on approach to quality engineering, Glen Stuart
Peace.
Application Of Taguchi Method For Optimization Of Process Parameters In
Improving The Surface Roughness Of Lathe Facing Operation