The Optimization of a Robotic Welding Arm to Improve Efficiency

Author

• Margaret Close, University of MississippiFollow

Date of Award

Spring 5-8-2026

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Department

Mechanical Engineering

First Advisor

Tejas Pandya

Second Advisor

Damian Stoddard

Relational Format

Dissertaion/Thesis

Abstract

The main objective of this report is to optimize a robotic welding arm to improve a locker manufacturing process. The robotic welding arm, a Miller PerformArc, used by Lockers Manufacturing has been producing spatter. Spatter significantly reduces the quality of the product and increases the product’s manufacturing time. The goal of this project was to find the best solution to reduce spatter without weakening the welds and ensuring that efficiency will increase. The first step in this project was to test multiple weld testing variables such as voltage, current, welding angle, robot speed, and arc and crater ratios. For each variable tested, the other variables remained constant to ensure that the best setting could be found. The optimal settings were determined to be an arc voltage of 21 V, a crater voltage of 19.2 V, an arc current of 145 A, and a crater current of 111 A.  After finding the best weld setting, eighteen 16-gauge samples were welded together in a lap joint configuration, and a tensile strength test was performed to ensure that the welds were strong. The testing showed that the optimal welds also performed better in the tensile strength test, with the samples withstanding over 10 MPa more than the original settings. The optimized welding settings reduced spatter by over fifty percent and also increased the weld’s tensile strength by around 10 MPa. The process was further optimized by writing a SOP. A SOP allows operators and trainees the information they will need to program the robotic welding arm and ensures that the correct settings will not be changed over time. The project successfully decreased the amount of spatter that the robotic welder produced, which will significantly decrease the amount of clean-up required after welding which will then decrease the product’s manufacturing time.

Recommended Citation

Close, Margaret, "The Optimization of a Robotic Welding Arm to Improve Efficiency" (2026). Honors Theses. 3542.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/3542

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