INTRODUCTION`

Spot welding is the most commonly used form of resistance

welding. Usually it is used to weld various sheet metals with
reduced thickness. The weld is discontinued and limited to one
or more spots, with the work pieces usually overlapped. It is
produced by the generation of heat and pressure, without filler
metal, in a localized area.

Resistance Welding
Resistance welding processes are pressure welding processes in
which heavy current is passed for short time through the area
of interface of metals to be joined. These processes differ from
other welding processes in the respect that no fluxes are used,
and filler metal rarely used. All resistance welding operations
are automatic and, therefore, all process variables are preset
and maintained constant. Heat is generated in localized area
which is enough to heat the metal to sufficient temperature, so
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that the parts can be joined with the application of pressure.

Pressure is applied through the electrodes.

The heat generated during resistance welding is given by

following expression:
H=I

Rt

Where, H is heat generated

I is current in amperes
R is resistance of area being welded
t is time for the flow of current.
The process employs currents of the order of few KA, voltages
range from 2 to 12 volts and times vary from few milliseconds
to few seconds. Force is normally applied before, during and
after the flow of current to avoid arcing between the surfaces
and to forge the weld metal during post heating. The necessary
pressure shall vary from 30 to 60 N mm-2 depending upon
material to be welded and other welding conditions. For good
quality welds these parameters may be properly selected which
shall depend mainly on material of components, their
thicknesses, type and size of electrodes.
Apart from proper setting of welding parameters, component
should be properly cleaned so that surfaces to be welded are
free from rust, dust, oil and grease. For this purpose
components may be given pickling treatment i.e. dipping in
diluted acid bath and then washing in hot water bath and then
in the cold water bath. After that components may be dried
through the jet of compressed air. If surfaces are rust free then
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pickling is not required but surface cleaning can be done

through some solvent such as acetone to remove oil and
grease.
The current may be obtained from a single phase step down
transformer supplying alternating current. However, when high
amperage is required then three phase rectifier may be used to
obtain DC supply and to balance the load on three phase power
lines.
The
material

of

electrode should have higher electrical and thermal

conductivities with sufficient strength to sustain high pressure
at elevated temperatures. Commonly used electrode materials
are pure copper and copper base alloys. Copper base alloys
may consist of copper as base and alloying elements such as
cadmium or silver or chromium or nickel or beryllium or cobalt
or zirconium or tungsten. Pure tungsten or tungsten-silver or
tungsten-copper or pure molybdenum may also be used as
electrode material. To reduce wear, tear and deformation of
electrodes, cooling through water circulation is required. Figure
shows the water cooling system of electrodes.

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Water Cooling of Electrodes (a) Spot Welding (b) Seam

Welding.

Resisitan
ce
Welding
Spot
Welding

Seam
Welding

projectio
n
Welding

Flash
welding

Commonly used resistance welding processes are spot, seam,

flash and projection welding which produce lap joints except in
case of production of welded tubes by seam welding where
edges are in butting position. In butt and flash welding,
components are in butting position and butt joints are
produced. Distinct advantages of Resistance Welding over other
welding processes:
There are a number of distinct advantages that account
for wide use of the resistance welding processes,
particularly in mass production. These advantages
include:
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 They are very rapid in operation.

The equipment can be fully automated.
They conserve materials as no filler material, shielding gas
or flux is required.
Skilled operators are not required.
Dissimilar metals can be easily joined.
A high degree of reliability and reproducibility can be
achieved.
Resistance Welding has some limitations, the principal
ones being:
The equipment has a high initial cost.
There are limitations to the type of joints that can be
made (mostly suitable for lap
joints).
Skilled maintenance persons are required to service the
control equipment.

HISTORY OF SPOT WELDING

1912

Lincoln Electric Co. introduced the first welding machines after

experimentation started in 1907.

E. G. Budd SPOT WELDS (SW) the first automobile body in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Langmuir gives the "plasma" to a gas or gas mixture brought to
such a high temperature that all diatomic molecules are dissociated

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and the atoms partially ionized and where all monoatomic gases are
fully ionized.
Firecracker welding technique, a version of shielded metal arc

welding is patented in Germany.

Strohmenger introduced coated metal electrodes in Great Britain.

The electrodes had a thin wash coating of lime or clay resulting in a

stable arc.
Strohmenger obtained US patent covering an electrode coated with
a blue asbestos with a binder of Sodium Silicate (NAXX). This was
the first electrode which produced weld metal free of impurities.

1916

Companies licensed resistance welding equipment, mostly spot

welding was the intended use.

1927

Lindberg's Ryan monoplane fuselage was manufactured with welded

steel alloy tubing.

Soviet Union production of Resistance Welding machines at Elektrik

Works called the "AT-8" and the "ATN-8: apparatus's for spot-welding
and the "AS-1" and the "AS-25-1" for butt welding.
John J. Chyle of A. O. Smith Corp. invented and patented the first

extruded, all-position, cellulosic, titanium dioxide later classified as

E6010 type welding electrode.
1931

E. G. Budd Manufacturing Company of Philadelphia spot welded

stainless steel (18-8) and built the Privateer. The spot-welding was a
process called "SPOT WELDING" a proprietary process developed by
E.G. Budd.
Combustion Engineering shipped the first commercial land boiler

fabricated by ASME welding code to Fisher Body Div. of General

Motors Corporation
1939

Floyd C. Kelly of General Electric publishes "Properties of Brazed

12% Chrome Steel" as an early investigation of the strength of

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brazed joints. Aluminium Spot Welding saw application in the

Aviation Industry. He describes Single lap tensile specimens
45 degree vee-type tensile specimen
Butt brazed tensile specimens.
Aluminium SPOT WELDING saw application in the Aviation Industry.

WORKING
In resistance spot welding, two or more sheets of metal are
held between electrodes through which welding current is
supplied for a definite time and also force is exerted on work
pieces. The principle is illustrated in Figure
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Principle of Resistance spot Welding

The welding cycle starts with the upper electrode moving and
contacting the work pieces resting on lower electrode which is
stationary. The work pieces are held under pressure and only
then heavy current is passed between the electrodes for preset
time. The area of metals in contact shall be rapidly raised to
welding temperature, due to the flow of current through the
contacting surfaces of work pieces. The pressure between
electrodes, squeezes the hot metal together thus completing
the weld. The weld nugget formed is allowed to cool under
pressure and then pressure is released. This total cycle is
known as resistance spot welding cycle and illustrated in figure

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Figure: Resistance Spot Welding Cycle

Spot welding electrodes of different shapes are used. Pointed

tip or truncated cones with an angle of 120 - 140 are used for
ferrous metal but with continuous use they may wear at the tip.
Domed electrodes are capable of withstanding heavier loads
and severe heating without damage and are normally useful for
welding of nonferrous metals. The radius of dome generally
varies from 50-100 mm. A flat tip electrode is used where
minimum indentation or invisible welds are desired.

Figure: Electrode Shapes for Spot Welding

Most of the industrial metal can be welded by spot welding,

however, it is applicable only for limited thickness of
components. Ease of mechanism, high speed of operation and
dissimilar metal combination welding, has made is widely
applicable and acceptable process. It is widely being used in
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electronic, electrical, aircraft, automobile and home appliances

industries.

STAGES OF SPOT WELDING

The stages of resistance spot welding resistance welding are as
follows: electrodes press the welded work pieces together;
electrode force decreases the transfer resistance of work pieces
between the electrodes, which allows directing welding current
through the work pieces through the desired route. Welding
current is connected after the termination of the squeeze time.
Welding current produces heat at the faying surfaces and thus
creates a weld pool between the work pieces. Welding current
is switched off as the weld time ends. Electrode force still
presses the work pieces together and electrodes cool the weld
down. The weld pool must solidify and the weld must achieve
sufficient strength proper-ties during the post-weld hold time.
After the end of the hold time, electrodes are retracted from the
work piece and the total weld time required for the production
of one spot weld ends. Stages suitable for the welding of
ordinary cold rolled steel are described above. Pulsed welding
current, changing of electrode force during the welding process
or up- and downslope adjustment (slope function) can be used
when welding more challenging materials such as aluminium or
coated or thick steel sheets.
Weld nugget growth is stabilised and small variation in the
welding current or work piece surface quality does not
significantly change the size of the weld. Splash limit is
exceeded when welding with excessive heat input. Large
cavities remain in the weld as molten metal splashes out from
the joint, which decreases the load-bearing surface of the weld.
Expulsions of molten metal also make the electrodes indent
further on the work piece surface. Such an indentation
decreases material thickness at the edges of the weld, which
further impairs the technical properties of the weld. The area
between the minimum acceptable weld diameter and splash
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limit is called the weldability range. Welds produced in this

range meet the common requirements set for spot welds.

The four stages of weld nugget formation and growth:

1. Heat increase, when the weld pool has not yet been created.
Electrode force and the elevated temperature smooth the
surface roughness of the work piece and transfer resistance
decreases. In case of galvanised material, zinc melts and
recedes from between the sheets at this stage, before the
parent metal melts.
2. Rapid growth of weld nugget diameter. The weld pool is
created and the molten metal diameter and nugget penetration
increase rapidly. The resistance of molten metal is higher than
that of solid metal, which increases total resistance.
3. The growth of the weld nugget slows down. The weld size
growth slows down significantly. The growth of the weld pool is
restricted by cooling electrodes and the increasing surface area
of the weld pool.
4. Splash. The weld pool size increases so much that electrode
tips can no longer contain the molten metal between the
sheets, and therefore expulsions occur. A significant amount of
molten metal splashes from the weld.

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ADVANTAGES OF SPOT WELDING:

Efficient energy use.
Limited work piece deformation. Also, work piece is not
melted to a larger extent. Heat is concentrated only at the
spot to be welded.
High production rates.
Suitable for automation.
Filler metals are not required. Hence, no associated fumes
or gas. This results in clean weld.

DISADVANTAGES OF SPOT
WELDING:
Weld strength is significantly lower when compared to
other processes. This makes the process suitable for only
certain applications.
Silver and copper are difficult to weld because of their
high thermal conductivity.

APPLICATIONS OF SPOT
WELDING:
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 Extensively used for welding steels and especially in the

automotive industry for cars that requires several
hundred spot welds made by industrial robots
To make batteries, nuts and bolts

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