Post weld heat treatment, or PWHT, is often used to improve the mechanical properties of materials that have been welded. Several publications have investigated the effects of the PWHT process using experimental designs. However, the modeling and optimization using the integration of machine learning (ML) and metaheuristics have yet to be reported, which are fundamental steps toward intelligent manufacturing applications. This research proposes a novel approach using ML techniques and metaheuristics to optimize PWHT process parameters. The goal is to determine the optimal PWHT parameters for both single and multiple objective perspectives. In this research, support vector regression (SVR), K-nearest neighbors (KNN), decision tree (DT), and random forest (RF) were ML techniques employed to obtain a relationship model between PWHT parameters and mechanical properties: ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and elongation percentage (EL). The results show that the SVR demonstrated superior performance among ML techniques for both UTS and EL models. Then, SVR is used with metaheuristics such as differential evolution (DE), particle swarm optimization (PSO), and genetic algorithms (GA). SVR-PSO shows the fastest convergence among other combinations. The final solutions of single-objective and Pareto solutions were also suggested in this research.
Keywords: dissimilar friction stir welding; elongation percentage; machine learning; metaheuristics; post weld heat treatment; process optimization; ultimate tensile strength.