SHEET METAL WELDING

SYNOPSIS


Submitted to: Mr. Sunil Sharma

Submitted by: Dinesh Garg
Section: M2E82
Roll No.: A58

Contents
Ackwoledgement ........................................... a
Contents ......................................................... b
Introduction ............................................... 1-2
Welding ...................................................... 3-4
Types of Welding....................................... 5-7
Sheet Metal .................................................... 8
Sheet Metal Welding ..................................... 9
Applications ................................................. 10
Procedure of Welding of Sheet Metal ...... 11
Advantages and Disadvantages ................. 12
References: ................................................... 13






INTRODUCTION
1. SHEET METAL
Sheet metal is metal formed by an industrial process into thin, flat pieces. It is one of the
fundamental forms used in metalworking and it can be cut and bent into a variety of shapes.
Countless everyday objects are constructed with sheet metal. Thicknesses can vary
significantly; extremely thin thicknesses are considered foil or leaf, and pieces thicker than
6 mm (0.25 in) are considered plate.
There are many different metals that can be made into
sheet metal, such as aluminium, brass, copper, steel, tin, nickel and titanium. For decorative
uses, important sheet metals include silver, gold, and platinum.
Sheet metal is used for car bodies, airplane wings, medical tables, roofs for buildings
(architecture) and many other applications. Sheet metal of iron and other materials with high
magnetic permeability, also known as laminated steel cores, has applications
in transformers and electric machines.

2. WELDING
Welding is a fabrication or sculptural process that join materials,
usually metals or thermoplastics, by causing coalescence. This is often done by melting the
work pieces and adding a filler material to form a pool of molten material (the weld pool) that
cools to become a strong joint, with pressure sometimes used in conjunction with heat, or by
itself, to produce the weld.
Many different energy sources can be used for welding, including a gas flame, an electric arc,
a laser, an electron beam, friction, and ultrasound. While often an industrial process, welding
may be performed in many different environments, including open air, under water and
in outer space. Welding is a potentially hazardous undertaking and precautions are required to
avoid burns, electric shock, vision damage, inhalation of poisonous gases and fumes, and
exposure to intense ultraviolet radiation.
The welding used for sheet metal is SPOT WELDING.

3. SPOT WELDING
Resistive spot welding (RSW)
[1]
is a process in which contacting metal surfaces are joined
by the heat obtained from resistance to electric current. Work-pieces are held together under
pressure exerted by electrodes. Typically the sheets are in the 0.5 to 3 mm (0.020 to 0.118 in)
thickness range. The process uses two shaped copper alloy electrodes to concentrate welding
current into a small "spot" and to simultaneously clamp the sheets together. Forcing a large
current through the spot will melt the metal and form the weld. The attractive feature of spot
welding is that a lot of energy can be delivered to the spot in a very short time (approximately
10 - 100 milliseconds).
[2]
That permits the welding to occur without excessive heating of the
remainder of the sheet.

APPLICATIONS
Spot welding is typically used when welding particular types of sheet metal, welded wire
mesh or wire mesh. Thicker stock is more difficult to spot weld because the heat flows into
the surrounding metal more easily. Spot welding can be easily identified on many sheet metal
goods, such as metal buckets. Aluminium alloys can be spot welded, but their much
higher thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity requires higher welding currents. This
requires larger, more powerful, and more expensive welding transformers .

ELECTORDE
Electrodes used in spot welding can vary greatly with different applications. Each tool style
has a different purpose. Radius style electrodes are used for high heat applications, electrodes
with a truncated tip for high pressure, eccentric electrodes for welding corners, offset
eccentric tips for reaching into corners and small spaces, and finally offset truncated for
reaching into the work piece itself.

DISADVANTAGES
The spot welding process tends to harden the material, causing it to warp. This reduces the
material's fatigue strength, and may stretch the material as well as anneal it. The physical
effects of spot welding include internal cracking, surface cracks and a bad appearance. The
chemical properties affected include the metal's internal resistance and its corrosive
properties.

STRUCTURE
The basic spot welder consists of a power supply, an energy storage unit (e.g., a capacitor
bank), a switch, a welding transformer, and the welding electrodes. The energy storage
element allows the welder to deliver high instantaneous power levels. If the power demands
are not high, then the energy storage element isn't needed. The switch causes the stored
energy to be dumped into the welding transformer voltage and steps up the current. current
voltage or current.
References:

1. Wikipedia
2. http://thelibraryofmanufacturing.com/sheetmetal_basics
3. Euro-inox
The European Stainless Steel Development Association
4. http://weldingdesign.com/processes