Robust parameter design of the measurement procedure for determining the chemical composition of copper alloys by X-ray fluorescence

A brief overview of contemporary methods for determining the chemical composition of copper alloys and the analytical control methods used is given. It has been shown that to obtain reliable and comparable results of measuring the mass fractions of copper alloys elements in wide ranges of values, the most suitable procedures are based on the X-ray fluorescence method, implemented using portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometers. In order to select the optimal values of the influencing quantities when determining the chemical composition of copper alloys, a robust parameter design of a quantitative chemical analysis procedure was carried out on the X-50 Mobile X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. The use of robust parameter design, as opposed to conducting a full factorial experiment when developing a measurement procedure, makes it possible to optimize measurement conditions and obtain results of the required accuracy with a limited number of experiments and a maximum number of control factors. An example of drawing up an experimental plan for the parameter design of this procedure is given and a statistical analysis of the measurement results is carried out. The optimal measurement conditions (influencing quantities) were analyzed and selected, under which the minimum error in the results of measuring the mass fraction of elements is ensured. The selection of optimal values of the influencing quantities based on the results of robust parameter design of the quantitative chemical analysis procedure made it possible to increase the accuracy of the results of determining the chemical composition of copper alloys and, as a consequence, the reliability of the results of product quality control at relatively low costs for its implementation. This approach can be recommended to analytical laboratories developing procedures of quantitative chemical analysis for metallurgical industry enterprises.

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