Ultrasonic C-scan Detection for Stainless Steel Spot Welding Based on Wavelet Package Analysis

An ultrasonic test of spot welding for stainless steel is conducted. Based on wavelet packet decomposition, the ultrasonic echo signal has been analyzed deeply in time - frequency domain, which can easily distinguish the nugget from the corona bond. The 2D C-scan images produced by ultrasonic C scan which contribute to quantitatively calculate the nugget diameter for the computer are further analyzed. The spot welding nugget diameter can be automatically obtained by image enhancement, edge detection and equivalent diameter algorithm procedure. The ultrasonic detection values in this paper show good agreement with the metallographic measured values. The mean value of normal distribution curve is 0.006 67, and the standard deviation is 0.087 11. Ultrasonic C-scan test based on wavelet packet signal analysis is of high accuracy and stability.

Analysis of the effect of geometrical parameters on fatigue performance of spot-weld joint for ultra-high strength steel

This paper studied the spot welding structure of ultra-high strength steel 22MnB5.ANSYS software was adopted to simulate its static strength;BS5400 algorithm was used to calculate the fatigue life;and the grouping method was used to test the fatigue performance of tensile shear spot weld specimens.The simulation results were in good agreement with the experimental values.Based on the validation of the simulation method,influences of different structural parameters on static strength and fatigue life were explored by adopting single factor.The results showed that within the selected structure parameter range,increase of the sheet thickness,nugget diameter,sheet width and overlapping length can lead to longer fatigue life.Besides,the fatigue life of spot weld took on a linear relationship with the overlapping length,a DoseResp relationship with the sheet thickness,and a single exponential decay relationship with the sheet width and the nugget diameter.Moreover,in order to estimate the impact from various parameters on the fatigue life of the specimens,the Taguchi orthogonal design method was applied in the simulation design.The simulating result indicated that influence of the sheet thickness on fatigue life was the most significant.In addition,the effects of nugget diameter,sheet width and overlapping length on fatigue life were reduced in turn.

Relationship between microstructures and mechanical properties of resistance spot welded joint of spring steel

Based on mechanical properties tests and microstructures investigations, the relationship between microstructures and mechanical properties of resistance spot welded joints of spring steel is studied. The agglomeration of precipitated carbide is the sign that indicates spot welded joints structure of spring steel is fully tempered. Spot welded joints microstructure of nickelplaied spring steel is fully tempered in random tempering heat treatment process, and mechanical properties of the welded joints are advanced. This research results showed a new approach for increasing spot welded joints quality of spring steel and hardened steel.

Effects of nugget alloying on microstructures and properties of resistance spot welded joints of aluminum and steel

The resistance spot welding of 6063-T6 aluminum alloy and 16Mn steel was studied by nugget alloying. The results indicated that the Al-steel joint had characteristics of welding-brazing. The nugget zone consisted mainly of α-Al solid solution with dislocations and fine Mg2Si particles. The interface zone had a double-layer structure： Fe2Al5 layer at steel side and Fe4Al13 layer at Al nugget side. The nugget alloying has a significant effect on the joint properties by changing phase composition and refinement of grains. When alloy elements Cu, Zn, Ti and Ni were added, the tensile shear load of Al-steel joints reached 2 780 N, 2 910 N, 2 915 N and 2 929 N respectively, which increased by 24. 1%, 29.9%, 30. 1% and 30. 7% respectively compared with that （2 241 N） of joint without nugget alloying. Therefore, it is an effective way for improving mechanical properties of resistance spot welded Al-steel joints.

Microstructure and mechanical property of resistance spot welded joint of aluminum alloy to high strength steel with especial electrodes

Dissimilar material joining of 6008 aluminum alloy to H220 YD galvanized high strength steel was performed by resistance spot welding with especial electrodes that were a flat tip electrode against the steel surface and a domed tip electrode upon the aluminum alloy surface. An intermetallic compound layer composed of Fe2Al5 and FeAl3 was formed at the steel/ aluminum interface in the welded joint. The thickness of the intermetallic compound layer increased with increasing welding current and welding time, and the maximum thickness being 7. 0 μm was obtained at 25 kA and 300 ms. The weld nugget diameter and tensile shear load of the welded joint had increased tendencies first with increasing welding current （ 18 -22 kA） and welding time （ 50 - 300 ms）, then changed little with further increasing welding current （ 22 - 25 kA） and welding time （300 -400 ms）. The maximum tensile shear load reached 5.4 kN at 22 kA and 300 ms. The welded joint fractured through brittle intermetallic compound layer and aluminum alloy nugget.

Effect of upsetting force on microstructure of welds in resistance spot welding of 400 MPa ultra-fine grain steel

The ultra-fine grain （UFG） steel is welded by using resistance spot welding technique with or without requirement of upsetting force. Metallographic inspection shows that the grain size of weld nugget is larger than that of the base metal and the microstructure is altered significantly. In addition, contracting defects such as air holes can be found in the nugget center. The experiments show that the defects can be effectively avoided by the technique of adding upsetting force during the nugget cooling and crystallizing processes. In tensile shear tests, the welding joint starts to crack from the inner edge of the corona bond. The results of micro-hardness tests show that the newly born martensite structure dramatically improves the hardness of the joint. Under the interactions between residual stresses and regenerated fine grains, the micro-hardness of the heat-affected zone （ HAZ ） is lower than that of the nugget, but evidently higher than that of the base metal.

Electrical-thermal interaction simulation for resistance spot welding nugget process of mild steel and stainless steel

A three dimensional finite difference electrical thermal model for resistance spot welding nugget process of mild steel and stainless steel is introduced. A simulation method of the interaction of electrical and thermal factors is presented. Meanwhile, calculation method of contact resistance and treatment method of heater structure is provided. The influence of the temperature dependent material properties and various cooling boundary conditions on welding process was also taken into account in the model. A method for improving the mild steel and stainless steel joint was analyzed in numerical simulation process. Experimental verification shows that the model prediction agrees well with the practice. The model provides a useful theoretic tool for the analysis of the process of resistance spot welding of mild steel and stainless steel.

Deformation at Room and Low Temperatures and Martensite Transformation in Resistance Spot Welding Duplexγ&α(δ) Materials of 301L Stainless Steel

Transformation induced plasticity （TRIP） and twinning induced plasticity （TWlP） effects had been widely studied in single austenite steel. But in duplex γ ＆ α（δ） phase, such as welding materials of stainless steel, they had been less studied. Tensile shear loading experiment of resistance spot welding specimens prepared with 2 mm 301L sheets, was carried out at 15℃ and -50℃. Optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy （SEM） as well as X-ray diffraction （XRD） were used to investigate the microstructure of weld nugget, and specimens fracture surface. The results showed that the initial weld nugget was composed of 8.4% α（δ） ferrite and 91.6% austenite. Tensile shear load bearing capacity of spot welding specimen at -50℃ was 24.8 kN, 17.7% higher than that at 15℃. About 78.5 vol. pct. martensite transformation was induced by plastic deformation at -50℃, while about 67.9 vol. pct transformation induced at 15℃. The plasticity of spot welding joint decreased with the decline of experimental temperature.

Interfacial characterization of resistance spot welded joint of steel and aluminum alloy

The dissimilar material resistance spot welding of galvanized high strength steel and aluminum alloy had been conducted. The welded joint exhibited a thin reaction layer composed of Fe2Al5 and Fe4Al13 phases at steel/aluminum interface. The welded joint presented a tensile shear load of 3.3 kN with an aluminum alloy nugget diameter of 5.7 mm. The interfacial failure mode was observed for the tensile shear specimen and fracture occurred at reaction layer and aluminum alloy fusion zone beside the interface. The reaction layer with compounds was the main reason for reduction of the welded joint mechanical property.

Interfacial microstructure and property of resistance spot welding joints of titanium to stainless steel

Commercially pure titanium and stainless steel sheets were welded using the technique of resistance spot welding with an aluminum alloy insert. The interfacial microstructure of the joint was observed and analyzed using electron microscopy; the tensile shear strength was investigated. An approximate 160 nm thick layer of Al solid solution supersaturated with Ti was observed at the interface between titanium and aluminum alloy. The solid solution layer contained the precipitates TiAla. And an approximate 1. 5 μm thick serrate reaction layer was observed at the interface between stainless steel and aluminum alloy. The maximum tensile shear load of 5.38 kN was obtained from the joint welded at the welding current of 10 kA. The results reveal that the property of the joint between titanium and stainless steel can be improved by using an aluminum alloy insert.

Strength evaluation of ultra-high strength steels and spot weld of automotive bodies

Cockcrofi-Latham fracture criterion was applied to predict the fracture of high strength steels. A Marciniak-type biaxial stretching test of the four classes of high strength steels was carried out to measure the material damage limit of Cockcrofi-Latham fracture criterion. Furthermore, in order to improve the simulation accuracy, the local anisotropic parameters depending on the plastic strain （strain dependent model of anisotropy ） were measured by digital image correlation method and incorporated into Hill＇ s anisotropic yield condition by authors. To confirm the validity of Cockcrofi-Latham fracture criterion, the uniaxial tensile tests based on JIS No. 5 tensile specimen were performed. The force-displacement history and fracture happening strokes were predicted with high accuracy. Then, Cockcrofi-Latham fracture criterion was applied to predict the failure of four types of spot welded joints. To simulate the local bending and warping deformations around the heataffected zone, the discrete Kirchhoff triangle element was adapted. FEM results for four classes of high strength steels and four types of spot welded joints had a good correlation with experimental ones.

Dynamic simulation of resistance spot welding of zinc-coated steels

A model was developed to simulate the temperature distribution and nugget formation during resistance spot welding （ RS1V） of zinc-coated steels. It employs a coupled thermal-electrical-mechanical analysis simulating the dynamic RSW process. Temperature-dependent thermal-electrical-mechanical material properties were considered including contact-resistance. The contact area was determined from a coupled thermal-mechanical analysis. A layer of transition elements was used to represent the change of contact area by killing or activating elements. The heat generation and temperature field were computed in a coupled thermal-electrical model. All these analyses were solved using the commercial finite element method （FEM） based on ANSYS code, and some advanced functions were used by writing a paragraph of codes by the authors. Compared with the results from only coupled thermal-electrical model in which contact area was uniform during the whole process, the result matches better to the experimental results.

Spall Strength of Resistance Spot Weld for QP Steel

The spall tests under the plane tensile pulses for resistance spot weld （RSW） of QP980 steel are performed by using a gun system. The velocity histories of free surfaces of the RSWare measured with the laser velocity interferometer system for any reflector. The recovered specimens are investigated with an Olympus GX71 metallographic microscope and a scanning electron microscope （SEM）. The measured velocity histories are explained and used to evaluate the tension stresses in the RSW applying the characteristic theory and the assumption of Gathers. The spall strength （1977 2784MPa） of the RSW for 0,P980 steel is determined based on the measured and simulated velocity histories. The spall mechanism of the RSW is brittle fracture in view of the SEM investigation of the recovered specimen. The micrographs of the as-received QP980 steel, the initial and recovered RSW of this steel for the spall test are compared to reveal the microstructure evolution during the welding and spall process. It is indicated that during the welding thermal cycle, the local martensitic phase transformation is dependent on the location within the fusion zone and the heat affected zone. It is presented that the transformation at high strain rate may be cancelled by other phenomenon while the evolution of weld defects is obvious during the spall process. It may be the stress triaxiality and strain rate effect of the RSW strength or the dynamic load-carrying capacity of the RSW structure that the spall strength of the RSW for QP980 steel is much higher than the uniaxial compression yield strength （1200 MPa） of the rnartensite phase in 0,P980 steel. Due to the weld defects in the center of the I^SW, the spall strength of the RSW should be less than the conventional spall strength or the dynamic load-carrying capacity of condensed structure.

MICROSTRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF DEEP CROGENIC TREATMENT ELECTRODES FOR SPOT WELDING HOT DIP GALVANIZED STEEL

The microstructure and elements distribution of the deep cryogenic treatmentelectrodes and non-cryogenic treatment electrodes for spot welding hot dip galvanized steel areobserved by a scanning electrical microscope. The grain sizes, the resistivity and the hardness ofthe electrodes before and after deep cryogenic treatment are measured by X-ray diffraction, the DCdouble arms bridge and the Brinell hardness testing unit respectively. The spot welding processperformance of hot dip galvanized steel plate is tested and the relationship between microstructureand physical properties of deep cryogenic treatment electrodes is analyzed. The experimental resultsshow that deep cryogenic treatment makes Cr, Zr in deep cryogenic treatment electrodes emanatedispersedly and makes the grain of deep cryogenic treatment electrodes smaller than non-cryogenictreatment ones so that the electrical conductivity and the thermal conductivity of deep cryogenictreatment electrodes are improved very much, which make spot welding process performance of the hotdip galvanized steel be improved.

Prediction and Verification of Resistance Spot Welding Results of Ultra-High Strength Steels through FE Simulations

Resistance spot welding (RSW) is the most common welding method in automotive engineering due to its low cost and high ability of automation. However, physical weldability testing is costly, time consuming and dependent of supplies of material and equipment. Finite Element (FE) simulations have been utilized to understand, verify and optimize manufacturing processes more efficiently. The present work aims to verify the capability of FE models for the RSW process by comparing simulation results to physical experiments for materials used in automotive production, with yield strengths from approximately 280 MPa to more than 1500 MPa. Previous research has mainly focused on lower strength materials. The physical weld results were assessed using destructive testing and an analysis of expulsion limits was also carried out. Extensive new determination of material data was carried out. The material data analysis was based on physical testing of material specimens, material simulation and comparison to data from literature. The study showed good agreement between simulations and physical testing. The mean absolute error of weld nugget size was 0.68 mm and the mean absolute error of expulsion limit was 1.10 kA.

Microstructure and Property Relationships in Resistance Spot Weld between 7114 Interstitial Free Steel and 304 Austenitic Stainless Steel

Due to the differences in physical, chemical and mechanical properties of the base metals, the resistance spot welding of dissimilar materials is generally more challenging than that of similar materials. The influence of the primary welding parameters affecting the heat input such as peak current on the morphology, microhardness, and tensile shear load bearing capacity of dissimilar welds between 304 grades austenitic and 7114 grade interstitial free steel has been investigated in this study. The optimum welding parameters producing maximum joint strength were established at a peak current of 9 kA, where the electrode force is kept 6×10^-5 Pa and weld time is kept constant 17 cycles, respectively. The primary cause of weakening the weldment is identified as the excessive grain growing region of heat affected zone （HAZ） in case of 7114 grade interstitial free steel.

Optimization of resistance spot brazing process parameters in AHSS and AISI 304 stainless steel joint using filler metal

The aim of this research study was to determine optimal resistance spot brazing parameters for joining between AHSS and AISI 304 stainless steel by using filler metal. The key parameters investigated in this study consist of the brazing current, electrode pressure and brazing time. The Taguchi method was applied to the design of experiments. Signal-to-Noise ratio was introduced in the study to identify optimal levels from the process where input parameters yield increased shear strength. Brazing was thus implemented with 5,000A brazing current, 0.70 MPa electrode pressure, and 1.50s brazing time. The maximum shear strength obtained was 54.31 N·mm^-2 in accordance with input parameter settings. In addition, Cu-rich phase and Ag0.4Fe0.6 intermetallic phases were found at the interface zone.

Electrode degradation mechanism during resistance spot welding of zinc coated steel using Cu-TiB_2 electrodes

The TiB2 dispersion-reinforced copper-matrix composite used as electrode material in resistance spot welding of zinc coated steels was studied. The service life of the composite electrode reaches （7700） welds, which is 4 times that of the conventional Cu-Cr-Zr electrode. Little gross deformation is observed on the composite （electrodes） because of the higher thermal strength; therefore, it is believed that wear is the only mechanism for the composite （electrode） deterioration. However, both wear and plastic deformation are responsible for the large increase in the tip diameter of the Cu-Cr-Zr electrodes. Moreover, the large deformation of the Cu-Cr-Zr electrodes may contribute to the increased wear rate of the tips.

Effect of electrode morphology on steel/aluminum alloy joint

Microstructure characteristics of dissimilar-metal resistance spot welded joints of SUS301 L austenitic stainless steel and 6063-T6 aluminum alloy, and effects of electrode morphology were studied. Results indicated that welded joints of dissimilar materials between austenitic stainless steel and aluminum alloy had characteristics of welding-brazing. The aluminum nugget consisted mainly of the cellular crystal, cellular dendrites and dendrites. The interface between austenitic stainless steel and aluminum alloy had a two-layered structures:a flat front surface θ-Fe_2Al_5 on the steel side and a serrated morphology θ-FeAl_3 on the aluminium alloy side, and it was the weakest zone of the joints. The electrode morphology had great effects on spot welded joints of stainless steel and aluminum alloy. The custom electrodes were a planar circular tip electrode with tip diameter of 10 mm on the stainless steel side and a spherical tip electrode with spherical radius of 35 mm on the aluminum alloy side. When the custom electrodes were used, the nugget diameter, tensile shear load and indentation ratio of spot welded joint were 7.22 mm, 3 606 N and 10.71%, respectively. The nugget diameter and joint tensile shear load increased by 34% and 102% respectively, and the indentation ratio decreased by 65% compared with the F-type electrodes(nugget diameter: 5.384 mm, tensile-shear load 1 783 N, indentation rate 30.94%). Therefore, it was more favorable to use the custom electrodes for improving the mechanical properties and appearance quality of resistance spot welded joints of stainless steel and aluminum alloy.

Expulsion characterization in resistance spot welding by means of a hardness mapping technique

Expulsion is an undesired event during resistance spot welding because the weld quality deteriorates. It is the ejection of molten metal from the weld nugget which usually occurs due to applying a high current for a short welding time. Expulsion has a significant impact on the final yield strength of the weld, thus the detection and characterization of expulsion events is significant for the quality assurance of resistance spot welds. In this study, hardness mapping, using a scanning hardness machine, was used as a quality assurance technique for re- sistance spot welding. Hardness tests were conducted on a resistance spot welded sample to prepare a hardness map. The test results showed good correlation between the hardness map and metallographic cross sections. The technique also provided further fundamental understand- ing of the resistance spot welding process, especially regarding the occurrence of expulsion in the nugget.