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Resistanceweldingprocesses

Parametersinresistancewelding

Parametersinresistance
welding

TheprincipleofresistanceweldingistheJouleheatinglawwheretheheatQisgenerateddependingonthreebasic
factorsasexpressedinthefollowingformula:

Electrodedegradationandtip
dressing
Numericalsimulation
techniques




whereIisthecurrentpassingthroughthemetalcombination,Ristheresistanceofthebasemetalsandthecontact
interfaces,andtistheduration/timeofthecurrentflow.
Theprincipleseemssimple.However,whenitrunsinanactualweldingprocess,therearenumerousparameters,some
researchershadidentifiedmorethan100,toinfluencetheresultsofaresistancewelding.Inordertohaveasystematic
understandingoftheresistanceweldingtechnology,wehavecarriedoutalotofexperimentaltestsandsummarizedthe
mostinfluentialparametersintothefollowingeighttypes:
1)Weldingcurrent
Theweldingcurrentisthemostimportantparameterinresistanceweldingwhichdeterminestheheatgenerationbya
powerofsquareasshownintheformula.Thesizeoftheweldnuggetincreasesrapidlywithincreasingweldingcurrent,
buttoohighcurrentwillresultinexpulsionsandelectrodedeteriorations.Thefigurebelowshowsthetypicaltypesofthe
weldingcurrentappliedinresistanceweldingincludingthesinglephasealternatingcurrent(AC)thatisstillthemostused
inproduction,thethreephasedirectcurrent(DC),thecondensatordischarge(CD),andthenewlydevelopedmiddle
frequencyinverterDC.Usuallytherootmeansquare(RMS)valuesoftheweldingcurrentareusedinthemachine
parametersettingsandtheprocesscontrols.Itisoftenthetediousjoboftheweldingengineerstofindtheoptimized
weldingcurrentandtimeforeachindividualweldingapplication.

2)Weldingtime
Theheatgenerationisdirectlyproportionaltotheweldingtime.Duetotheheattransferfromtheweldzonetothebase
metalsandtotheelectrodes,aswellastheheatlossfromthefreesurfacestothesurroundings,aminimumwelding
currentaswellasaminimumweldingtimewillbeneededtomakeaweld.Iftheweldingcurrentistoolow,simply
increasingtheweldingtimealonewillnotproduceaweld.Whentheweldingcurrentishighenough,thesizeoftheweld
nuggetincreaseswithincreasingweldingtimeuntilitreachesasizesimilartotheelectrodetipcontactarea.Ifthe
weldingtimeisprolonged,expulsionwilloccurorintheworstcasestheelectrodemaysticktotheworkpiece.
3)Weldingforce
Theweldingforceinfluencestheresistanceweldingprocessbyitseffectonthecontactresistanceattheinterfacesandon
thecontactareaduetodeformationofmaterials.Theworkpiecesmustbecompressedwithacertainforceattheweld
zonetoenablethepassageofthecurrent.Iftheweldingforceistoolow,expulsionmayoccurimmediatelyafterstarting
theweldingcurrentduetofactthatthecontactresistanceistoohigh,resultinginrapidheatgeneration.Ifthewelding
forceishigh,thecontactareawillbelargeresultinginlowcurrentdensityandlowcontactresistancethatwillreduceheat
generationandthesizeofweldnugget.Inprojectionwelding,theweldingforcecausesthecollapseoftheprojectionin
theworkpiece,whichchangesthecontactareaandtherebythecontactresistanceandthecurrentdensity.Itfurther
influencestheheatdevelopmentandtheweldingresults.
4)Contactresistance
Thecontactresistanceattheweldinterfaceisthemostinfluentialparameterrelatedtomaterials.Ithoweverhashighly
dynamicinteractionwiththeprocessparameters.Thefigurebelowshowsthemeasuredcontactresistanceofmildsteelat
differenttemperaturesanddifferentpressures.Itisnoticedthatthecontactresistancegenerallydecreaseswith
increasingtemperaturebuthasalocalridgearound300C,anditdecreasesalmostproportionallywithincreasing
pressure.Allmetalshaveroughsurfacesinmicroscale.Whentheweldingforceincreases,thecontactpressureincreases
therebytherealcontactareaattheinterfaceincreasesduetodeformationoftheroughsurfaceasperities.Thereforethe
contactresistanceattheinterfacedecreaseswhichreducestheheatgenerationandthesizeofweldnugget.Onthemetal
surfaces,therearealsooxides,watervapour,oil,dirtandothercontaminants.Whenthetemperatureincreases,someof
thesurfacecontaminants(mainlywaterandoilbasedones)willbeburnedoffinthefirstcoupleofcycles,andthemetals
willalsobesoftenedathightemperatures.Thusthecontactresistancegenerallydecreaseswithincreasingtemperature.
Eventhoughthecontactresistancehasmostsignificantinfluenceonlyinthefirstcoupleofcycles,ithasadecisive
influenceontheheatdistributionduetotheinitialheatgenerationanddistribution.

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5)Materialsproperties
Nearlyallmaterialpropertieschangewithtemperaturewhichaddtothedynamicsoftheresistanceweldingprocess.The
resistivityofmaterialinfluencestheheatgeneration.Thethermalconductivityandtheheatcapacityinfluencetheheat
transfer.Inmetalssuchassilverandcopperwithlowresistivityandhighthermalconductivity,littleheatisgenerated
evenwithhighweldingcurrentandalsoquicklytransferredaway.Theyareratherdifficulttoweldwithresistancewelding.
Ontheotherhand,theycanbegoodmaterialsforelectrodes.Whendissimilarmetalsarewelded,moreheatwillbe
generatedinthemetalwithhigherresistivity.Thisshouldbeconsideredwhendesigningtheweldpartsinprojection
weldingandselectingtheformsoftheelectrodesinspotwelding.Hardnessofmaterialalsoinfluencesthecontact
resistance.Hardermetals(withhigheryieldstress)willresultinhighercontactresistanceatthesameweldingforcedue
totheroughsurfaceasperitiesbeingmoredifficulttodeform,resultinginasmallerrealcontactarea.Electrodematerials
havealsobeenusedtoinfluencetheheatbalanceinresistancewelding,especiallyforjoininglightandnonferrous
metals.
6)Surfacecoatings
Mostsurfacecoatingsareappliedforprotectionofcorrosionorasasubstrateforfurthersurfacetreatment.These
surfacecoatingsoftencomplicatetheweldingprocess.Specialprocessparameteradjustmentshavetobemade
accordingtoindividualtypesofthesurfacecoatings.Somesurfacecoatingsareintroducedforfacilitatingtheweldingof
difficultmaterialcombinations.Thesesurfacecoatingsarestrategicallyselectedtobringtheheatbalancetotheweld
interface.Mostofthesurfacecoatingswillbesqueezedoutduringwelding,somewillremainattheweldinterfaceasa
brazemetal.
7)Geometryanddimensions
Thegeometryanddimensionsoftheelectrodesandworkpiecesareveryimportant,sincetheyinfluencethecurrent
densitydistributionandthustheresultsofresistancewelding.Thegeometryofelectrodesinspotweldingcontrolsthe
currentdensityandtheresultingsizeoftheweldnugget.Differentthicknessesofmetalsheetsneeddifferentwelding
currentsandotherprocessparametersettings.Thedesignofthelocalprojectiongeometryoftheworkpiecesiscriticalin
projectionwelding,whichshouldbeconsideredtogetherwiththematerialpropertiesespeciallywhenjoiningdissimilar
metals.Inprinciple,theembossmentorprojectionshouldbeplacedonthematerialwiththelowerresistivityinorderto
getabetterheatbalanceattheweldinterface.
8)Weldingmachinecharacteristics
Theelectricalandmechanicalcharacteristicsoftheweldingmachinehaveasignificantinfluenceonresistancewelding
processes.Theelectricalcharacteristicsincludethedynamicreactiontimeofweldingcurrentandthemagnetic/inductive
lossesduetothesizeoftheweldingwindowandtheamountofmagneticmaterialsinthethroat.Theupslopetimeofa
weldingmachinecanbeverycriticalinmicroresistanceweldingasthetotalweldingtimeisoftenextremelyshort.The
magneticlossinspotweldingisoneoftheimportantfactorstoconsiderinprocesscontrols.Themechanical
characteristicsincludethespeedandaccelerationoftheelectrodefollowupaswellasthestiffnessoftheloading
frame/arms.Ifthefollowupoftheelectrodeistooslow,expulsionmayeasilyoccurinprojectionwelding.Thefigure
belowshowsmeasuredprocessparametersinaprojectionweldingprocess,whichincludethedynamiccurvesofthe
weldingcurrent,theweldingforceandthedisplacementoftheelectrode,wherethesharpmovementcorrespondstothe
collapseoftheprojectionintheworkpiece.

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