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Parametric optimization of the investment casting process using utility concept and Taguchi method
Sarojrani Pattnaik, DB Karunakar and PK Jha
Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part L: Journal of Materials Design and Applications 2014 228:
288 originally published online 7 May 2013
DOI: 10.1177/1464420713487654

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Original Article

Proc IMechE Part L:

Parametric optimization of the J Materials: Design and Applications
2014, Vol. 228(4) 288–300

investment casting process using utility ! IMechE 2013

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concept and Taguchi method DOI: 10.1177/1464420713487654
pil.sagepub.com

Sarojrani Pattnaik, DB Karunakar and PK Jha

Abstract
Investment casting process, also known as lost wax process, is utilized when complex detail, undercuts or non-
machinable features and accurate parts are desired. It begins with a wax pattern which is an exact replica of the as
cast part. So the properties of the wax patterns are ultimately passed on to the castings. This article highlights the
application of utility concept with Taguchi method for the multi-response optimization of wax patterns made by the
investment casting process. The wax injection process parameters considered are injection temperature, injection
pressure and injection time, whereas the responses are linear shrinkage, surface roughness and penetration, respectively.
The experiments are planned as per Taguchi’s L9 orthogonal array. The utility concept converts multi-response opti-
mization problem into single response optimization problem and thereafter Taguchi method is applied. The results
indicate that injection pressure is the most significant process parameter influencing the quality characteristic of the
wax patterns. The confirmation tests with optimal levels of injection process parameters are carried out to illustrate the
efficacy of the proposed method. The results are found to be within the confidence interval. The optimization results
revealed that a combination of lower level of injection temperature and injection time along with higher level of injection
pressure leads to overall improvement in the quality of the wax patterns. It has also been established that there is some
quality loss in terms of surface finish of the wax patterns in multi-response optimization as compared to single response
optimization, though an overall improvement in the process is being observed.

Keywords
Utility concept, Taguchi method, multi-response optimization, investment casting, wax patterns

Date received: 7 December 2012; accepted: 25 March 2013

high strength and hardness at normal room tempera-

Introduction
The process of investment casting (IC) is one of the
oldest manufacturing processes and it has occupied a
key position in modern metal casting techniques.1 It is
considered as the most versatile, flexible process as it
produces near-net shape metal components as com-
pared to other metal forming processes. Mostly, near-
net shape parts have high dimensional accuracy and
good surface structure and thus, this reduces the
amount of waste material in producing the part.
Any metal can be easily cast by the investment casting
process. The process involves making of a disposable
wax pattern by injecting hot wax into a metallic die or
silicon rubber mold, building of a ceramic shell
around the wax pattern by the application of a
series of ceramic coatings to the wax pattern, dewax-
ing of the ceramic shell and finally, casting of the alloy
into the shell. The most commonly used pattern
material is wax and the properties of wax used for
pattern making are of critical importance for the pro-
duction of good castings. These properties include
tures, low ash content, maximum dimensional stabil-
ity after extraction from the die and during storage
prior to use, maximum reusability of pattern mixture,
good surface finish, sufficient viscosity, etc.2
The dimensions and the surface finish of the final
casting to a large extent are controlled by the dimen-
sions and surface characteristics of the wax pattern.
The accuracy of the wax pattern is influenced by the
wax material, injection process parameters or control
factors and the pattern geometry. Parts that are typ-
ically manufactured by the IC process have complex
geometry such as turbine blades or firearm com-
ponents. High temperature applications are also
Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, Indian Institute of
Technology Roorkee, India
Corresponding author:
Sarojrani Pattnaik, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee 247667, India.
Email: rani_saroj7@yahoo.co.in

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Pattnaik et al.
common, which include parts for the automotive, air-
craft, and military industries. Selection of pattern
material is the first and foremost step in the IC pro-
cess as the characteristics of the wax patterns are
transferred to the final cast part. In general, the
waxes used are complex mixtures of many compounds
including natural or synthetic wax, natural or syn-
thetic resin, solid organic fillers, etc.3 Resins are
added to the blend to increase body and strength.
Fillers consist of a fine powder material that is pri-
marily used to improve shrinkage characteristics.
Borcherding and Luck4 found that soybean, acting
as a kind of filler, when added to wax blend reduces
the shrinkage in wax patterns. A method of convert-
ing low cost wax (B97) to a superior quality wax,
comparable with the commercially available IC pat-
tern wax (B140) was discussed by Tascioglu and
Akar.5,6 These authors added different additives like
soybean, colloids, activated charcoal, palmitic acid
and some surface active agents each time separately
to the B97 wax, which resulted in improved perform-
ance of the wax blend.
The influence of the pattern geometry is especially
difficult in predicting dimensional changes caused by
wax solidification. Available literatures indicate that a
large number of injection process parameters are
involved in making qualitative wax patterns.7 Hence,
proper selection of input process parameters is an
important criterion for achieving high dimensional
stability with good surface finish and hardness of
wax patterns in the IC process. It is essential to opti-
mize the process parameters in a systematic way to
obtain the best output characteristics out of them.
Rezavand et al.8 studied the effect of wax injection
process parameters on the final dimensions and
(dimensional) stability of the wax pattern of a turbine
blade in relation to the critical blade geometry.
Injection temperature and holding time were chosen
as variable processing parameters and the effect of the
holding time was found to be more dominant than that
of the injection temperature. It is concluded from their
study that the final dimensions of wax patterns are
affected by the type of wax used, geometry of the pat-
tern to be produced and injection process parameters
chosen. The findings of the authors may be practically
used to further improve the shrinkage of wax patterns
of the turbine blades. Horacek9 found that the injec-
tion process parameters play an important role in the
accuracy of the wax patterns. These parameters are
injection flow rate, injection cycle time, injection tem-
perature, injection pressure and die temperature. In
their work, they found the inter-relationship between
various injection parameters and their dependency on
other factors. Bonilla et al.10 proposed a methodology
that makes use of computer-aided heat transfer simu-
lation to predict the heat transfer occurring during the
wax pattern contraction process and experimentally
derived factors for injection parameters to predict
wax pattern shrinkages in the IC process.
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289
Yarlargadda and Hock11 determined the accuracy
of wax patterns produced by hard and soft tooling
and optimized the injection parameters used in low
pressure injection molding. From their study, it was
noticed that in producing wax patterns, use of both
the polyurethane and silicone molds have their own
advantages and disadvantages. Wax patterns pro-
duced from silicone mold not only had better surface
finish but were also able to produce wax patterns with
complex shapes. However, from accuracy point of
view, performance of polyurethane molds was much
better than silicone molds as the former one could
produce a more accurate and less distorted wax pat-
terns. Therefore, using a polyurethane mold was a
better choice if the requirement is to produce accurate
patterns with minimum amount of distortion. Later,
Rahmati et al.12 performed the dimensional accuracy
analysis of the wax patterns, which was created from
the room temperature vulcanization (RTV) silicon
rubber tooling. The input variables considered were
wax injection temperature, vacuum pressure and mold
temperature. Other factors such as room temperature,
room humidity, injection rate and so on were assumed
to be constant during the injection molding process.
Design of experiments using Taguchi approach was
used for the determination of optimal conditions.
It was found that all the input parameters significantly
affected the dimensional accuracy of the wax patterns
created by RTV tooling and the most effective factor
among them was vacuum pressure. From the above
study, it can be concluded that the optimizations of
injection process parameters can be done successfully
using Taguchi’s method. Also, rapid tooling could be
used as successful alternative in place of traditional
tooling for small and medium scale investment casting
industries. Again, Pattnaik et al.13 also employed
Taguchi’s parameter design approach in finding the
optimal setting of injection process parameters for
making wax patterns. The process parameters con-
sidered were injection temperature, injection pressure,
injection time and die temperature and the response
parameter was linear shrinkage of wax pattern. The
results indicated that injection temperature was the
most significant process parameter, while injection
time was the insignificant process parameter in shrink-
age reduction. The research work carried out by the
authors sighted a clear picture of every factor’s con-
tribution to the variation in making the wax patterns
by the IC process, and so the quality of the wax pat-
tern could be improved without additional invest-
ment. However, the other quality characteristics of
the wax patterns such as surface finish, hardness,
etc. were not considered by the authors.
At present, IC industries are under tremendous
pressure to improve their performance consistently
to face the globally competitive environment with
world class quality. To stay competitive in the
market, it is essential to consider the multiple quality
characteristics (QCs) of any product. Hence, here
290
arises a situation of obtaining optimal process condi-
tions for simultaneously optimizing multiple
responses, considering all at a time. The optimization
of process parameters requires a systematic methodo-
logical approach by using experimental methods and
mathematical/statistical models. Taguchi’s robust
design concept has been extensively used for the pur-
pose of optimizing process parameters in most of the
industrial processes.14 But, the original Taguchi
method is mainly focused on the optimization of pro-
cess parameters in context to a single quality criter-
ion.15–17 However, most of the products have multiple
QCs. A single setting of process parameters may be
optimal for one response, but the same setting may
result in non-optimum values for remaining
responses. Hence, there is a need to obtain a single
optimal process parameters setting, which can be used
to produce products with optimum or near optimum
characteristics as a whole.
In this regard, researchers have applied utility con-
cept along with Taguchi method to overcome the
shortcomings of the Taguchi method for solving
multi-response optimization problems. Badkar
et al.18 applied Taguchi method and utility concept
for optimizing the laser process parameters in laser
transformation hardening of commercially available
pure titanium. Dubey19 used a utility-based Taguchi
loss function strategy for the multi-response optimiza-
tion of electro-chemical honing (ECH) process.
Gaitonde et al.20 determined the optimum amount
of minimum quantity of lubricant (MQL) and the
most appropriate cutting speed and feed rate during
turning of brass using K10 carbide tool using utility-
based Taguchi method for simultaneous minimization
of surface roughness and specific cutting force.
However, it is worth to be noted that till now no
work has been reported in the literature on multi-
response optimization of wax patterns in the IC pro-
cess using utility-based Taguchi method. Hence, an
attempt has been made in the present article on the
employment of utility concept along with Taguchi
method to solve multi-response optimization of wax
patterns in the investment casting process.
In the present investigation, the input process par-
ameters considered are injection temperature, injec-
tion pressure and injection time, whereas the
responses are linear shrinkage, surface roughness
and penetration, respectively. The application of util-
ity concept converts multi-response optimization
problem into single response optimization problem,
which is later on solved by Taguchi method. Finally,
confirmation experiments are performed to verify the
effectiveness of the proposed method.
Taguchi method with utility concept
Taguchi method is a statistical tool for the design of
high quality systems. It has been used commonly in
analyzing engineering problems to optimize
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Proc IMechE Part L: J Materials: Design and Applications 228(4)
Figure 1. Taguchi’s robust design.
performance characteristics by means of settings of
design parameters. This method uses a special set of
arrays called orthogonal arrays (OAs). These stand-
ard arrays stipulate the way of conducting the min-
imal number of experiments which could give the full
information of all the factors that affect the perform-
ance characteristics. Figure 1 shows the robust design
of Taguchi philosophy.
During experimentation, there are many sources of
variations in responses due to uncontrollable or noise
factors such as humidity, vibration, environmental
temperature, etc. Taguchi recommended the use of
another tool called signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio to
quantify the effect of variations. For this, the experi-
mental results are transformed into S/N ratios.21
Taguchi proposed the use of S/N ratios to measure
the QC deviating from the desired values. These S/N
ratios are meant to be used as measures of the effect of
noise factors on QCs. Here, the ‘signal’ represents the
desirable value and the ‘noise’ represents the undesir-
able value and S/N ratio expresses the scatter around
the desired value. The larger the S/N ratio, smaller
will be the scatter. Usually, there are three categories
of QCs in the analysis of the S/N ratio, i.e. lower-the-
better, higher-the-better and nominal-the-better. S/N
ratio for lower-the-better type is given as
!
1X R
ðS=NÞLB ¼ 10 log y2 ð1Þ
R j¼1 j
S/N ratio for higher-the-better type is given as
!
1X R
1
ðS=NÞHB ¼ 10 log ð2Þ
R j¼1 y2j
where yj ( j ¼ 1, 2, . . . , n) are the response values under
the trial conditions repeated R times. Regardless of
the category of the QC, a greater S/N ratio corres-
ponds to better QC. Therefore, the optimal level of
the process parameters is the level with the greatest
S/N ratio. Moreover, a statistical analysis of variance
Pattnaik et al.
may also be employed to analyze the effect of process
parameters on QC. The predicted value of QCs at
optimum parameter levels can be calculated as follows
X
q
^ ¼ m þ ð i  m Þ
i¼1
where m is the total mean of all experimental runs of
QC,  i is the mean of ith process parameter at optimal
level and q is the number of parameters that signifi-
cantly affect the QCs. Finally, a confirmatory experi-
ment is conducted to verify the optimal settings of
process parameters obtained from the parameter
design.
Though Taguchi method has been successful in sol-
ving single response optimization problems, it cannot
be used alone for solving multi-response optimization
problems as each QC may not have the same meas-
urement unit. Hence, the evaluations of various QCs
should be combined to give a composite index. Such a
composite index is known as utility of a product.
If xi is the measure of effectiveness of QC i and n is
the number of QCs evaluating the outcome space,
then the joint utility function can be expressed as
X
n
Uðx1 , x2 , . . . xn Þ ¼ Ui ðxi Þ
i¼1
where Ui(xi) is the utility of the ith QC.
The sum of utilities of each QC represents the over-
all utility of a product. However, it is difficult to
obtain the best combination of process parameters
for multi-response optimization problems. To handle
this challenging situation, utility concept assumes pri-
ority weights for each of the QCs, based on cus-
tomer’s requirements.22
Then, the overall utility function can be
expressed as
X
n
Uðx1 , x2 , . . . xn Þ ¼ Wi Ui ðxi Þ
i¼1
X
n are the result of ashes (generated from burning wax
Wi ¼ 1
i¼1
where Wi is the weight assigned to the ith QC.
However, the sum of weights for all QCs is equal to
1, which is given by equation (5). The utility function
is always of ‘higher-the-better’ type. If the composite
measure (overall utility) is maximized, the QCs con-
sidered for the evaluation of utility will be optimized
(maximized or minimized).
To determine the utility value for each of the QC, a
preference scale (PS) for each QC is constructed.
Later, these scales are weighted to obtain a composite
number, which is known as overall utility. The weight-
ing is done to satisfy the test of indifference on the
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291
various QCs. The preference scale is based on loga-
rithmic scale. The minimum acceptable quality level
for each QC is set at a preference number of 0 and the
best available quality is assigned a preference number
of 9, arbitrarily. Then, the preference number Pi can
ð3Þ be expressed as follows23,24
xi
Pi ¼ A log ð6Þ
x0 i
where xi is the value of any QC i, x0i is the minimum
acceptable value of the QC i and A is a constant.
Arbitrarily, A is selected at xi ¼ x*, where x* is the
optimum value of xi, then Pi ¼ 9. Therefore, the value
of A can be calculated as25
9
A¼  ð7Þ
log xx0
i
Thus, the overall utility (U) can be calculated as
X
n
U¼ Wi P i ð8Þ
i¼1
The flow chart for the entire process of computing
overall utility and further optimization is depicted in
Figure 2.
ð4Þ
Experimental procedure
One major problem encountered in the art of IC pro-
cess is improperly shaped final parts. When the heated
wax blend is introduced into the metallic die and sub-
sequently allowed to cool, thermal contraction takes
place and the hardening wax pattern shrinks from the
interior sides of the die. This shrinkage causes the wax
pattern to lose its geometrical integrity as well as its
shape. Consequently, many ceramic shells fail to
maintain proper dimensions, which in turn results in
inadequately shaped parts. Another problem faced by
the IC industry is irregularities in the surface sur-
ð4aÞ rounding the cavity of the shell. These surface irregu-
larities are formed during the sintering process and
ð5Þ patterns) which are embedded into the ceramic shell.
These ashes leave indentations, which in turn result in
surface defects in the final metal part. These defects
often prevent the metal part from meeting the
required specifications and tolerances. Still another
problem encountered by the industry is cracking of
the ceramic shell during the ‘burn out’ phase. When
the wax pattern positioned within the ceramic shell, is
subjected to heat, thermal expansion of the wax rep-
lica causes exertion of pressure about the interior of
the ceramic shell. This pressure, if not alleviated, often
causes the ceramic shell to crack. This premature
cracking causes an increase in both production time
and costs. Therefore, there is a need for an ashless,
foamable investment casting wax composition.
292
Compute individual optimal values for
the selected QCs by Taguchi method
Construct preference scale for each QC
using Eqs. 6 and 7
Assign random weights to each QC on
the basis of their importance such that
the sum of total weights is equal to 1
Find utility value for each QC against
each trial condition of the experiment
using Eq. 8
Compute S/N ratios for the utility
values obtained for each of the trial
conditions using Eq. 2
Analyze the results using Taguchi
method
Determine the optimal condition of the
process parameters for optimal utility
Predict the optimal values for the
selected QCs using Eq. 3
Conduct confirmatory experiments at
the optimal setting and compare the
predicted optimal values of the QCs
with the actual ones
Figure 2. Flow chart for multi-response optimization by
utility concept.
As aforementioned injection process parameters
also exert major impact on the properties of the wax
patterns made for the investment casting process,
therefore there should be proper selection of optimum
injection process parameters. However, if each time
injection process parameters is varied with the com-
position of the wax blend, it would require multiple
set of experiments leading to increased complexity of
the process as well as rise in both lead time and cost of
production, which is undesirable. Hence, this section
first deals with the selection of best pattern wax com-
position for the IC process to prevent the above men-
tioned defects. Further, process parameters and
appropriate orthogonal arrays are chosen for the
proper design of experiments, which is then followed
by the conduct of experiments as per the plan with the
chosen wax blend.
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Proc IMechE Part L: J Materials: Design and Applications 228(4)
Figure 3. Scanning electron microscopic image of starch
powder.
Selection of best wax blend composition
The literature reveals that the blends containing only
waxes are unable to fulfill the criteria of a good pat-
tern wax. The fillers are primarily used to improve the
shrinkage characteristics of wax blends. It also helps
in improving the overall structural strength of the
blend. Hence, in the present study, filler is used
along with different kinds of waxes such as natural
wax, petroleum wax and synthetic wax, to increase
the performance characteristics of the wax blend.
The waxes used in this study are from paraffin wax,
carnauba wax, microcrystalline wax and polyethylene
wax (PE). One of the important properties of the filler
includes sufficient wettability with the wax blend and
should leave no ash content when burnt. Starch, a
kind of filler has been found to be surfacially compat-
ible with the wax blend during trial experiments.
Thus, it was selected as filler along with waxes in
this research work. Also, starch powder is easily avail-
able at cheaper costs. This research work aimed to
show the suitability of the starch powder as successful
filler with the base waxes for improving the properties
of the wax patterns in the IC process.
The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image of
starch powder is shown in Figure 3. In order to
achieve high quality image of starch, specimen was
gold-coated using Sputter coater (BALTEC SCD
005) to avoid sample charging and to improve second-
ary electron signal strength. From Figure 3, it is
clearly viewed that the grains are heterogeneous and
either spherical/polygonal in shape. This irregularity
in shape provides improved packing of the pattern
wax composition thereby producing highly durable
precision wax patterns.
Chemical and physical properties of ingredients are
presented in Table 1.
Each of the above selected ingredients has some
attributes required for an ideal wax blend. However,
the percentage of each of the ingredients to be added
Pattnaik et al. 293

to get the best results was not known. Different wax pattern wax composition. It was desired to make wax
blends were prepared by varying the ingredients in patterns with very thin fins at both the diametrical
percent based on trial-and-error approach. However, ends from a silicon rubber mold. During the entire
the proportion of filler (starch) was varied from 10% process, the molten wax blend was injected into the
to 30% only because it was found by trial experiments mold using a vacuum wax injection machine, at con-
that higher amount of starch content (exceeding 30%) stant injection process parameters. The input process
led to poor surface finish. The properties of each of parameters were as follows: injection temperature at
the wax patterns in terms of linear shrinkage (LS), 75 C; injection pressure at 0.5 kg/cm2 and injection
volumetric shrinkage (VS) and surface roughness time at 42 s. The melting point (MP) of all the
(SR) were determined for each of the blends. It was blends was determined by differential thermal analysis
found that almost all the wax blends made, showed (DTA) using differential thermal analyzer (EXSTAR
acceptable results as required by the investment cast- TG/DTA 6300) at a heating rate of 5 C/min from
ing industries. However, the blend which showed least 30 C to 200 C. Three wax patterns were produced
LS, VS and SR among them was selected as the best from each of the blends. The best three wax blends
with their compositions and properties are reported in
Tables 2 and 3, respectively and Figure 4 shows the
wax patterns produced from the blends.
Table 1. Chemical and physical properties of ingredients. The results from Table 3 indicates that the wax
blend with 25% of paraffin wax, 5% of carnauba
Composition Chemical and physical properties
wax, 35% of microcrystalline wax, 12% of polyethyl-
Paraffin wax Straight-chain hydrocarbon ene wax and 23% of starch, has minimum linear
High molecular weight shrinkage, volumetric shrinkage and surface rough-
Cost-effective ness. Hence, further experiments were carried out
Poor heat resistance using the abovementioned blend and injection process
Melting point: 49–71 C
Carnauba wax Provides glossy and slippy surface
Hard and brittle
Melting point: 82–86 C
Microcrystalline wax Branch-chain hydrocarbon
High molecular weight than paraffin wax
More costly than paraffin wax
Melting point: 60–89 C
Polyethylene wax Low molecular weight
Straight-chain hydrocarbon
Melting point: 100–110 C
Good dispersion and fluidity
Starch Thickener
Water retention
Sticking-adhesive/cohesive
Figure 4. Wax patterns produced from the best three blends.

Table 2. Composition of the wax blends (weight by percent).

Best wax blends Paraffin wax Carnauba wax Microcrystalline wax Polyethylene wax Starch

1 25 5 35 12 23
2 30 10 30 10 20
3 30 10 30 14 16

Table 3. Comparison of various properties of the wax blends.

Best wax blends MP ( C) Linear shrinkage (%) Volumetric shrinkage (%) Surface roughness (nm)

1 65 2.84 6.28 58.5907

2 67 3.35 7.17 60.069
3 66 3.74 7.53 61.1532
MP: melting point.

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294 Proc IMechE Part L: J Materials: Design and Applications 228(4)

Table 4. Process parameters and their values at different levels.

Symbol Process parameters Range Unit Level 1 Level 2 Level 3


A Injection temperature 75–85 C 75 80 85
B Injection pressure 0.5–0.7 kg/cm2 0.5 0.6 0.7
C Injection time 40–50 s 40 45 50

parameters were varied each time to determine the Table 5. L9 orthogonal array process parameters.
optimum process parameters.
Process parameters
Selection of process parameters and Run no. A B C
orthogonal array 1 1 1 1
On the basis of trial experiments and literature review, 2 1 2 2
injection temperature, injection pressure and injection 3 1 3 3
time were selected to visualize their effect on the qual- 4 2 1 2
ity characteristics of the wax patterns made by the IC 5 2 2 3
process. The other parameters such as wax compos-
6 2 3 1
ition, ambient temperature and vacuum pressure were
7 3 1 3
fixed during the entire investigation. The pattern cool-
8 3 2 1
ing inside the mold and after ejection from the mold
was done naturally. Taguchi’s experimental design 9 3 3 2
requires selection of minimum and maximum range
of each of the input process parameters.14 Thus, the
range of the selected process parameters in this study blend composition’. For each of the blends, three
was decided by conducting the experiments with one wax patterns were prepared each time. The ambient
variable at a time approach and three levels were temperature during pattern production was in the
chosen for each of the process parameters. The pro- range of 25–30 C. The values of linear shrinkage
cess parameters, their designed symbols and range are (LS), surface roughness (SR) and penetration (P) for
given in Table 4. each trial condition were recorded and are furnished
From Table 4, it is clear that there are three factors in Table 6.
and three levels used in the experiment. If three levels
were assigned to each of these factors and a factorial Multi-response optimization using utility
experimental design was employed using each of these
concept with Taguchi method
values, number of permutations would be very large.
As per Taguchi’s method, the total degree of freedom The main objective of this study is to produce high
(DOF) of selected OA must be greater than or equal quality wax patterns, whose properties would be
to the total DOF required for the experiment. Each ultimately transferred to the cast parts. It is only pos-
three level parameter has 2 DOF, which is defined as sible if best quality wax blends are injected at opti-
(number of level  1). Hence the total DOF required mum injection process parameters. Taguchi method
for three parameters, each at three levels is has been used as an efficient tool for single response
[3  (3  1)] i.e. 6. Hence, the selected orthogonal optimization problems. However, the present study
array should have at least six experiments. Three involves multiple responses, which cannot be solved
level OAs are L9, L18 and L27, respectively. The by Taguchi method single handedly. Hence, utility
employment of L18 and L27 arrays will increase the concept along with Taguchi method has been used
cost and time of production. Thus, L9 orthogonal in this study. This section comprises of construction
array was the selected option to make the present of preference scales, computation of utility values,
analysis (Table 5). This design requires nine experi- prediction of optimal process parameters for multiple
ments with three parameters, each at three levels QCs, determination of significant process parameters
and these levels are designated by 1, 2 and 3 as of the process and prediction of optimal value of QCs
shown in Table 5. The interactions were neglected. followed by confirmation tests.

Conduct of experiments Preference scale construction

As per Taguchi design, nine experiments were per- The multi-response optimization as per proposed
formed at the trial conditions with the chosen wax methodology commences with the construction of pref-
blend mentioned in section ‘Selection of best wax erence scales for considered QCs. Preference scales

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Pattnaik et al. 295

Table 6. Experimental results of quality characteristics.

Linear shrinkage (%) Surface roughness (nm) Penetration (mm) under 100 g load condition

Trial no. R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3

1 2.296 2.293 2.296 73.4143 73.6743 72.9757 4 2 3

2 2.292 2.29 2.291 81.5523 82.1853 82.5779 2 3 3
3 2.284 2.289 2.288 86.5739 89.2759 87.3497 2 2 2
4 2.319 2.316 2.316 58.5907 59.6365 59.3761 5 5 4
5 2.311 2.310 2.303 62.6494 65.1735 63.9784 4 5 4
6 2.302 2.298 2.297 42.2754 41.9981 42.6729 3 3 4
7 2.401 2.374 2.341 46.8169 44.4139 46.7294 6 6 7
8 2.342 2.34 2.338 34.5098 38.0024 35.8084 5 5 6
9 2.327 2.326 2.322 32.816 35.4724 38.4272 5 5 5
Mean LS ¼ 2.315% Mean SR ¼ 58.479 nm Mean P ¼ 4.075 mm
R1, R2 and R3 are the values of quality characteristics at each of the replications for each trial condition.

Table 7. Predicted optimal results and generated preference scales for QCs.

Optimal Significant process Predicted optimal Minimum acceptable

QC settings parameters value (xi*) response value (xi0 ) Preference scale

LS A1 B3 C2 A, B 2.28 % 2.5 % PLS ¼ 224:97 logðxi =2:5Þ

SR A3 B3 C1 A, B, C 28.06 nm 90 nm PSR ¼ 17:78 logðxi =90Þ
P A1 B3 C1 A, B 1.925 mm 7 mm PP ¼ 16:08 logðxi =7Þ
QCs: quality characteristics; LS: linear shrinkage; SR: surface roughness; P: penetration.

for the QCs was constructed on the basis of their Then, the preference scale was constructed based on
individual predicted optimal values and minimum equation (6) and is as follows:
acceptable response values. The predicted optimal
value of each of the QC (xi*) was computed using equa- PLS ¼ 224:97 logðxi =2:5Þ
tion (3) and shown in Table 7. The three
QCs considered in this study were linear shrinkage, Preference scale for surface roughness
surface roughness and penetration, and a good qual- xSR ¼ optimal value of SR ¼ 28:06 nm:
ity wax pattern would be produced if all these
qualities are as low as possible. Since, all the QCs are x0SR ¼ minimum acceptable value of SR ¼ 90 nm:
of lower-the-better type, the minimum acceptable
response value of each of the QC is the maximum It was assumed that observed values of SR were less
value of the experimental results obtained as per L9 than 90 nm (refer Table 6).
OA (Table 6). Using these values and equations (6) and (7), the
preference scale for SR is as follows:
Preference scale for linear shrinkage  
PSR ¼ 17:78 log xSR =90
xLS ¼ optimal value of LS ¼ 2:28%:
x0LS ¼ minimum acceptable value of LS ¼ 2:5%: Preference scale for penetration
xP ¼ optimal value of P ¼ 1:925 mm:
The minimum value of LS obtained was 2.401%, thus
it was assumed that observed values of LS were less x0P ¼ minimum acceptable value of P ¼ 7 mm:
than 2.5% (refer Table 6).
Using these values and equation (7), the value of It was assumed that observed values of P were less
ALS is than 7 mm (refer Table 6).
Using these values and equations (6) and (7), the
9 preference scale for P is as follows:
ALS ¼ x
¼ 224:97
log xLS
0  
LS
PP ¼ 16:08 log xP =7

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296 Proc IMechE Part L: J Materials: Design and Applications 228(4)

Table 8. Utility values based on QCs (LS, SR and P). Table 10. ANOM of S/N ratios of utility values (LS, SR and P).

Utility value Average utility values

Trial no. R1 R2 R3 S/N ratio (dB) Symbol L1 L2 L3

1 4.5992 6.2462 5.2843 14.4082 A 14.76918 14.12877 13.44912

2 5.9989 5.0636 5.0371 14.5099 B 12.90713 13.92412 15.45798
3 5.9590 5.8087 5.8791 15.3894 C 14.91488 14.14015 13.29205
4 4.3357 4.3323 4.8629 13.0463 L1, L2 and L3 represent levels 1, 2 and 3 of S/N ratios of utility values of
5 4.7953 4.1883 4.8542 13.2198 process parameters A, B and C respectively.
6 6.6045 6.6780 5.9815 16.1202 ANOM: analysis of means; S/N: signal-to-noise; LS: linear shrinkage; SR:
surface roughness; P: penetration.
7 3.3569 3.8609 3.8271 11.2669
8 5.3767 5.1564 4.9129 14.2162
9 5.7155 5.5292 5.3793 14.8643
furnished in Tables 9 and 10, respectively. The
R1, R2 and R3 are the utility values at each of the replications at each graph showing the effect of process parameters (injec-
trial condition.
tion temperature, injection pressure and injection
QCs: quality characteristics; S/N: signal-to-noise; LS: linear shrinkage;
SR: surface roughness; P: penetration. time) on utility values and S/N ratio are plotted in
Figure 5. In Figure 5, the process parameters are
designated along x-axis, whereas utility values and
S/N ratios are designated along y-axis.
Table 9. ANOM of utility values (LS, SR and P). As utility function and S/N ratio are always of
‘higher-the-better’ type, therefore from Figure 5, it is
Average utility values
clear that the first level of injection temperature (A1),
Symbol L1 L2 L3 the third level of injection pressure (B3) and the first
level of injection time (C1) would yield best perform-
A 5.541792 5.181409 4.790556 ance in terms of utility value and S/N ratio within the
B 4.522858 5.042597 5.948302 selected range of process parameters. Furthermore,
C 5.648862 5.139400 4.725495 analysis of variance (ANOVA) at 95% confidence
L1, L2 and L3 represent levels 1, 2 and 3 of utility values of parameters interval was performed to identify the process param-
A, B and C, respectively. eters that were statistically significant. The pooled ver-
ANOM: analysis of means; LS: linear shrinkage; SR: surface roughness; sions of ANOVA for utility data and S/N ratios are
P: penetration. given in Tables 11 and 12, respectively. It is clear from
Tables 11 and 12 that all the process parameters
The preference scales for LS, SR and P are reported in namely, injection temperature, injection pressure and
Table 7. injection time are significant in both the ANOVAs.
Hence, it affects the variation of utility value of the
wax patterns in the IC process. However, it is found
Determining utility values of QCs
that injection pressure is the most significant process
The experimental results were transformed into com- parameter in affecting the quality of the wax patterns.
posite utility values using equation (8), which was
based on respective preference scales and weight fac-
tors assigned to each QC. In the present investiga-
Predicted optimal values of QCs
tion, weighing factors of 0.3 for each of the QCs was The optimal values of QCs were predicted at the
allotted, assuming all of them were equally import- selected levels of significant parameters i.e. A1, B3
ant. Taguchi recommended the use of S/N ratio to and C1 using equation (3). The 95% confidence inter-
measure the QCs deviating from the desired values. val of confirmation experiments (CICE) was computed
Since utility is a higher-the-better type of character- using the following equation14
istic, S/N ratios of utility values were calculated
using equation (2). The results of calculated utility sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
  ffi
values and the corresponding S/N ratios are shown 1 1
CICE ¼ F ð1, fe Þ þ Ve
in Table 8. neff R

where F(1, fe) is the F ratio at a confidence level of

ANOM and ANOVA analysis of utility values
Next, the results were analyzed using analysis of
means (ANOM). ANOM is used to determine the
optimal parametric settings of any process. ANOM
of utility values and corresponding S/N ratios are
(1  a) against DOF 1 and error DOF fe, Ve the error
variance, N the total number of results, R the sample
size of the confirmation experiments and neff¼ the
effective number of replications, i.e. neff ¼
N
1 þ ½DOF associated in the estimate mean :

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Pattnaik et al. 297

(a) (b)
15.0 15.5
5.6 Utility value
6.0 Utility value
S/N ratio
S/N ratio
15.0

Utility value (ULS,SR,P)

Utility value (ULS,SR,P)

5.8
5.4 14.5

S/N ratio (dB)

S/N ratio (dB)
14.5
5.6
5.2 14.0
14.0 5.4
13.5
5.0
5.2
13.0
4.8 13.5 5.0
12.5

75 80 85 0.50 0.55 0.60 0.65 0.70

0 2
Injection temperature ( C) Injection pressure (kg/cm )
(c)
Utility value 15.0
5.6 S/N ratio
Utility value (ULS,SR,P)

5.4 14.5

S/N ratio
5.2
14.0
5.0

4.8 13.5
4.6
40 45 50
Injection time (sec)

Figure 5. Effect of process parameters: (a) injection temperature; (b) injection pressure; (c) injection time on utility value U(LS, SR, P)
and S/N ratio.

Table 11. Pooled ANOVA (LS, SR and P). Table 13. Results of predicted values and optimal range of
QCs.
Pooled SS DOF V F SS’ P
Predicted Predicted
A 2.54096 2 1.27048 8.309 2.23516 11.88
QC Unit optimal value CICE optimal range
B 9.36694 2 4.68347 30.631 9.06113 48.16
C 3.85039 2 1.92519 12.591 3.54458 18.84 LS % 2.277 0.0195 2.257 < LS < 2.296
Error 3.05803 20 0.15290 3.97543 21.12 SR nm 69.906 4.0029 65.903 < SR < 73.909
Total 18.8163 26 18.8163 100 P mm 1.739 0.8738 0.866 < P < 2.614

SS: sum of squares, DOF: degree of freedom; V: variance; SS0 : pure sum LS: linear shrinkage; SR: surface roughness; P: penetration.
of squares; P: percent; ANOVA: analysis of variance.
Table 13 displays the predicted optimal values,
CICE and predicted optimal range of individual QCs.
Table 12. Pooled S/N ANOVA (LS, SR and P).

Pooled SS DOF V F SS0 P Verification test of optimal result

A 2.61432 2 1.30716 5.283 2.11954 12.83 The verification experiment is the final step in Taguchi
B 4.99818 2 2.49909 10.101 4.50340 27.27 design. Since the optimum combination of parameter
C 3.95362 2 1.97681 7.990 3.45884 20.94 levels was not included in the main experiment, three
Error 4.94782 20 0.24739 6.43217 38.95 confirmation experiments were conducted at the opti-
Total 16.5139 26 16.5139 100 mal settings of input process parameters for making
wax patterns. The average values of the QCs, namely,
SS: sum of squares; DOF: degree of freedom; V: variance; SS0 :
pure sum of squares; P: percent; S/N: signal-to-noise; ANOVA: ana- LS, SR and P were reported as 2.281%, 66.0094 nm
lysis of variance; LS: linear shrinkage; SR: surface roughness; P: and 1.67 mm, respectively and it is found that these
penetration. values lie within the 95% CICE of the optimal range.

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298 Proc IMechE Part L: J Materials: Design and Applications 228(4)

Table 14. Summary and comparison of results of single and multiple QCs.

Method QC Optimal condition Predicted value Experimental value

Single characteristic optimization LS A1, B3 , C2 2.28 % 2.278

SR A3, B3 , C1 28.06 nm 48.7164
P A1, B3 , C1 1.925 mm 1.67
Multi-characteristic optimization LS, SR, P A1, B3 , C1 LS ¼ 2.277 % 2.281
SR ¼ 69.906 nm 66.0094
P ¼ 1.739 mm 1.67
QCs: quality characteristics; LS: linear shrinkage; SR: surface roughness; P: penetration.

Figure 6. Two-dimensional plot for surface roughness of wax patterns at optimal condition for: (a) single response optimization;
(b) multi-response optimization.

The results of multi-characteristic optimization

using utility concept with Taguchi method and
single characteristic optimization using Taguchi
method, has been furnished in Table 14. It is seen
that the predicted value of QCs are very close to
that of the experimental values. This proves the effi-
cacy of the adopted methodology.
Comparing of the results of single and multiple
characteristic optimizations, it is found that LS and
P values are very close to each other whereas, there
is a prominent difference in SR values of the wax
patterns obtained at optimal conditions in single
and multiple response optimization conditions.
Figure 6 shows two-dimensional plot for surface
roughness of wax patterns at optimal condition in
both single as well as multiple response optimiza-
tion and the corresponding values are 48.7164 nm
and 66.0094 nm, respectively. In multi-response
optimization, the value of surface roughness is
higher than that at single response optimization.
Thus, it can be inferred that there occurs some
quality loss in multi-response optimization, though
there is an overall improvement in the quality of
the product.
Conclusions
From the above study, following conclusions are
drawn:
. The Taguchi method along with utility concept has
been employed in this study to determine the best
combination of injection process parameters such
as injection temperature, injection pressure and
injection time for simultaneously minimizing the
linear shrinkage, surface roughness and penetra-
tion of the wax patterns made by the IC process.
The optimal values obtained using the multi-
characteristic optimization model has been further
validated by confirmation experiments. Selection of
the wax blends, process parameters and their levels
and choice of appropriate orthogonal array have
been done before performing the experimental run.
. Analysis of mean result indicates that a combin-
ation of lower level of injection temperature and
injection time along with higher level of injection
pressure is necessary for simultaneously minimiz-
ing the considered quality characteristics of the
wax patterns. From the results of Analysis of

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Pattnaik et al.
variance for utility data and S/N ratio, it is found
that all injection process parameters are significant
in improving the utility function comprising of
three quality characteristics. Injection pressure
has been found to be the most influential process
parameter in optimizing multiple responses and its
percent contribution is 48.15%.
. The predicted optimum shrinkage and actual
shrinkage are 2.277% and 2.281% respectively,
predicted optimum surface roughness and actual
surface roughness are 69.906 nm and 66.0094 nm
respectively and the predicted optimum penetra-
tion and actual penetration are found to be
1.739 mm 1.67 mm, respectively. In a nutshell, the
predicted results by the utility-based Taguchi
method agree well with the experimental results
within the specified range of input process
parameters.
. Although, in multi-response optimization, there is
always some quality loss as compared to single-
response optimization, which can be seen by com-
paring the results of surface roughness of the wax
patterns in both the cases; however, there is an
overall increase in the quality of the wax patterns
by the proposed method. Also there is no restric-
tion to the number of quality characteristics to be
optimized by this process.
. This case study investigates the complex process of
making wax patterns in the investment casting pro-
cess. Since many process parameters can be varied
in forming suitable wax patterns with respect to
many different and partly contradictory properties,
this study shows that it is not necessary to perform
hundreds of tests. It can be evaluated with respect
to some key properties. The process adopted in this
study is of great technical and industrial relevance
since most of the investments casting industries
around the world till now just optimize their pro-
cess according to their experience and in-person
know how. Hence, the adopted methodology in
this study would be very much helpful to the foun-
dries to optimize their investment casting proced-
ures and also to improve the quality of the product
at smaller lead times and less cost.
Funding
The authors greatly acknowledge the financial support given
by SRIC, IIT Roorkee for conducting the experiments.
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