The wear behaviour of Cr3C2-25% NiCr laser alloyed nodular cast iron sample were analyzed using a pin-on-disc tribometer. The influence of sliding velocity, temperature and load on laser alloyed sample was focused and the microscopic images were used for metallurgical examination of the worn-out sites. Box-Behnken method was utilised to generate the mathematical model for the condition parameters. The Response Surface Methodology (RSM) based models are varied to analyse the process parameters interaction effects. Analysis of variance was used to analyse the developed model and the results showed that the laser alloyed sample leads to a minimum wear rate (0.6079×10–3 to 1.8570×10–3 mm3/m) and coefficient of friction (CoF) (0.43 to 0.53). From the test results, it was observed that the experimental results correlated well with the predicted results of the developed mathematical model.

The paper presents application of Taguchi method in optimizing the sound transmission loss through sandwich gypsum constructions and those comprising of masonry concrete blocks and gypsum boards in order to investigate the relative influence of the various parameters affecting the sound transmission loss. The application of Taguchi method for optimizing sound transmission loss has been rarely reported. The present work uses the results analytically predicted on “Insul” software for various sandwich material configurations as desired by each experimental run in an L8 orthogonal array. The relative importance of the parameters on single-number rating, Rw (C, Ctr) is evaluated in terms of percentage contribution using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The ANOVA method reveals that type of studs, steel stud frame and number of gypsum layers attached are the key factors controlling the sound transmission loss characteristics of sandwich multi-layered constructions.