TAGUCHI’S QUALITY LOSS FUNCTION AND EXPERIMENTATION PLAN USED IN WEDM

Abstract

The paper outlines – in an original manner – the relevance of implementing quality-related concepts promoted by Genichi Taguchi in WEDM. The introduction briefly draws forth G. Taguchi’s main contributions to the field of quality, emphasizing the quality-loss function and the Taguchi experimentation plans. Then, the authors show the implications of the Taguchi method to the design of a product, especially in setting nominal values and quality-specific tolerances. We exemplify by showing how to design an adjustment by minimizing the quality-loss function.Afterwards, we indicate how a manufacturing process should be run, in order to achieve parts that conform to Taguchi's approach. We present the way of grouping and the dispersion of quality characteristics of the parts manufactured according tothis approach. In order to efficiently exploit the products, we evince the methodology of Taguchi’s experimentation plans for manufacturing parts using wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM). The of these plans as compared to the classical ones are also studied, with regard to their efficiency in optimizing the use of the products. Finally, conclusions regarding the usefulness of these concepts and the authors’ interpretations are drawn.