Syed Safiuddin Samad Final Thesis Me Cadcam

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AN INVESTIGATION OF NUGGET FORMATION AND
SIMULATION IN RESISTANCE SPOT WELDING

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree

of

MASTERS OF ENGINEERING (CAD/CAM)

BY

SYED SAFIUDDIN SAMAD
1604-11-765-017

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
MUFFAKHAM JAH COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
(Affiliated to Osmania University)
HYDERABAD-500034
2013

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CONTENT

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1
1.1 RESISTANCE SPOT WELDING (RSW) PROCESS 2
1.2 PRINCIPLE OF RESISTANCE SPOT WELDING 4
1.3 TERMINOLOGY 5
1.4 WELDING MACHINES 6
1.5 ADVANTAGES OF SPOT WELDING 6
1.6 OBJECTIVES 7
1.7 INVESTIGATION APPROACH 7

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW AND CRITICAL ISSUES 9
2.1 EFFECT OF ELECTRODE FORCE 14

CHAPTER 3: SPOT WELDING FACTORS AND BEST PARAMETERS 16
3.1 MATERIAL USED FOR THE STUDY 16
3.2 RANGE OF MATERIAL FOR SPOT WELDING 17
3.3 CHOICE OF THICKNESS 17
3.4 ELECTRODES FOR SPOT WELDING 18
3.4.1 ELECTRODES SETTING FOR SPOT WELDING OF SHEETS 18
3.5 SPOT WELD NUGGET DIAMETER 19
3.6 EXPULSION 21

CHAPTER 4: EXPERIMENTAL STUDY 23
4.1 SAMPLE PREPARATION AND THE TEST PLAN 1 25
4.2 SAMPLE PREPARATION AND THE TEST PLAN 2 26
4.3 SPOT WELDING MACHINE 26
4.3.1 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 26
4.3.2 MECHANICAL SYSTEM 27
4.3.3 AIR OPERATED MACHINES 27
4.3.4 CONTROL SYSTEM 28
4.3.5 COOLING SYSTEM 28
4.3.6 A.C. RESISTANCE WELDING MACHINE 28
4.3.7 A.C. SPECIFICATION OF RESISTANCE WELDING MACHINE 29
4.4 SPOT WELD NUGGET DIMENSION CHECKING 31
4.5 SPOT WELDED SAMPLE OF TEST PLAN 1 33
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4.6 SPOT WELDED SAMPLE OF TEST PLAN 2 34
4.7 PREPARATION OF ETCHED SAMPLES 34

CHAPTER 5: INTRODUCTION TO SIMULATION OF RSW PROCESS 39
5.1 FINITE ELEMENT MODEL 40
5.1.1 HEAT TRANSFER ANALYSIS 40
5.1.2 ELECTRICAL FIELD ANALYSIS 41
5.2 MODELING AND PARAMETERS 42
5.2.1 MODEL AND MESH 42
5.2.2 MECHANICAL BOUNDARY CONDITIONS 45
5.2.2a INTERFACE ELEMENTS 45
5.3 WELDING PARAMETERS AND MATERIAL PROPERTIES 46
5.4 SIMULATION OF 2 LAP SHEETS OF 1 MM THICKENESS 50
5.5 SIMULATION OF 2 LAP SHEETS OF 1.5 MM THICKENESS 61
5.6 SIMULATION OF 3 LAP SHEETS OF 1 MM THICKENESS 74
5.7 SIMULATION OF 3 LAP SHEETS OF 1.5 MM THICKENESS 84
5.8 MEASURED VALUES OF THE NUGGET 94

CHAPTER 6: RESULTS AND DICUSSIONS
6 RESULTS AND DICUSSIONS 97

CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE SCOPE OF WORK
7.1 CONCLUSIONS 98
7.2 FUTURE SCOPE OF WORK 99

REFERENCES
100

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1 : Chemical compositions (IS 513: 2008) 16
Table 3.2 : Mechanical Properties at Room Temperatures in as Delivered condition 17
Table 3.3 : Suggested electrode tip diameter corresponding to the plate thickness
for RSW 18
Table 4.1 : Experimental data for 2 sheets spot welding process with 1.0 mm thickness 24
Table 4.5 : Experimentally obtained values of nugget Height and Diameter for 2 lap
sheets spot weld of 1mm thickness under varying welding conditions 36
Table 4.6 : Experimentally obtained values of nugget Height and Diameter for 2 lap
sheets spot weld of 1.5 mm thickness under varying welding conditions 36
Table 4.7 : Experimentally obtained values of upper nugget Height and Diameter
for 3 Lap sheets spot weld of 1mm thickness under varying welding
conditions 37
Table 4.8 : Experimentally obtained values of lower nugget Height and Diameter
for 3 Lap sheets spot weld of 1mm thickness under varying welding
conditions 37
Table 4.9 : Experimentally obtained values of upper nugget Height and Diameter
for 3 Lap sheets spot weld of 1.5 mm thickness under varying welding
conditions 38
Table 4.10: Experimentally obtained values of lower nugget Height and
Diameter for 3 Lap sheets spot weld of 1.5 mm thickness under
varying welding conditions 38
Table 5.1 : Model Dimensions 42
Table 5.2 : Element types and degree of freedom options 44
Table 5.3 : Thermal and electrical properties of materials 47
Table 5.4 : Mechanical properties of materials 48
Table 5.5 : Employed spot welding conditions for 2 Lap sheets simulation of 1 mm
thickness 50
Table 5.6 : Employed spot welding conditions for 2 Lap sheets simulation of 1.5 mm
thickness 61
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thickness 74
thickness 84
Table 5.9 : Measured values of nugget diameter and height from the 1 mm thickness
of 2 lap sheets simulation 94
Table 5.10 : Measured values of nugget diameter and height from the 1.5 mm thickness
of 2 lap sheets simulation 94
Table 5.11 : Measured values of upper nugget diameter and height from the 1 mm
thickness of 3 lap sheets simulation 95
Table 5.12 : Measured values of lower nugget diameter and height from the 1 mm
Table 5.13 : Measured values of upper nugget diameter and height from the 1.5 mm
Table 5.14 : Measured values of lower nugget diameter and height from the 1.5 mm

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1-1 : Principle of resistance spot welding 4
Figure 1-2 : Schematic of a typical spot weld sequence 5
Figure 2-1 : Schematic illustration of computational procedure used in FEA
Technique 12
Figure 2-2 : Electricalthermalmechanical contact model 13
Figure 3-1 : Electrode geometry to the thickness of the plate 19
Figure 3-2 : A & B shows the types of expulsion 21
Figure 4-1 : Two sheets spot weld coupons (specimens) 25
Figure 4-2 : Three sheets spot weld coupons (specimens)
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Figure 4-3 : Overview of mechanical system of spot and projection welding
Machine
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Figure 4-4 : Various parts of RSW machine
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Figure 4-5 : Resistance spot welding machine 30
Figure 4-6 : The spot welding machine selected for the experiments 31
Figure 4-7 : Schematic view of nugget size diameter 31
Figure 4-7a: Different material zones around the spot weld 32
Figure 4-7b: Etched specimen of 1mm thickness
33
Figure 4-8 : Two sheets spot weld coupons (specimens) after welding 33
Figure 4-9 : Three sheets spot weld coupons (specimens) after welding 34
Figure 4-10: Nugget size for different direction (Above: Vertical,
Below: Horizontal) 35
Figure 5-1 : The FEA model of RSW process 43
Figure 5-1a: Boundary conditions for simulation 43
Figure 5-2 : FEM model for spot welding process with contact elements 44
Figure 5-3 : Contact elements 46
Figure 5-4 : 2D Axisymmetric Quarter model geometry of 2 and 3 lap sheets 48
Figure 5-5 : 2D Axisymmetric Quarter meshed model geometry of 2 lap sheets 49
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Figure 5-6 : 2D Axisymmetric Half model geometry of 2 lap sheets 49
Figure 5-7 : The predicted temperature distribution from the simulation for the
Sample 1 50
Figure 5-8 : The predicted nugget geometry from the simulation for the sample 1 51

Figure 5-9 : The predicted temperature ( ) distribution graph with respect to
time in seconds (1cycle = 0.02 seconds) from the simulation for the
sample 1 51
Figure 5-10: The predicted temperature distribution from the simulation for the
Sample 2 52
Figure 5-11: The predicted nugget geometry from the simulation for the
sample 2 52
Figure 5-12: The predicted temperature ( ) distribution graph with respect to
sample 2 53
sample 3 53
sample 3 54
sample 3 54
sample 4 55
sample 4 55
sample 4 56
sample 5 57
sample 5 57
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sample 5 58
sample 6 59
sample 6 59
sample 6 60
sample 7 61
sample 7 62
sample 7 62
sample 8 63
sample 8 63
sample 8 64
sample 9 64
sample 9 65
sample 9 65
sample 10
66
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sample 10 66
sample 10 67
sample 11
68
sample 11 68
sample 11 69
sample 12 70
sample 12 70
sample 12 71
Figure 5-43: 2D Axisymmetric Quarter meshed model geometry of 3 lap sheets
with loading
71
Figure 5-44: 2D Axisymmetric Quarter meshed model geometry of 3 lap sheets 72
Figure 5-45: 2D Axisymmetric Half model geometry of 3 lap sheets 72
Figure 5-46: A practical model of resistance spot welding for three pieces of sheets 73
sample 13 74
Figure 5-48: The predicted upper & lower nugget geometry from the simulation
for the sample 13 75
Figure 5-49: The predicted temperature ( ) distribution in upper & lower weld
graph with respect to time in seconds (1cycle = 0.02 seconds) from the
simulation for the sample 13
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sample 14 76
Figure 5-51: The predicted upper & lower nugget geometry from the simulation for the
sample 14 76
simulation for the sample 14
77
sample 15 77
sample 15 78
simulation for the sample 15 78
sample 16 79
sample 16 79
sample 17 80
sample 17 81
sample 18 82
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sample 19 84
sample 20 86
sample 21 87
sample 22 89
sample 23 90
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sample 24 92


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CHAPTER 1

1. INTRODUCTION

Resistance spot welding (RSW) is widely utilized as a joining technique for
automobile structure due to flexibility, robustness and high-speed of process
combining with very high quality joints at very low cost. Resistance spot welding
(RSW) process is also used in sheet metal joining process, due to its high speed,
suitability for automation and inclusion in high-production assembly lines with other
fabricating operations. It is a complex process in which coupled interactions exist
between electrical, thermal, mechanical, metallurgical phenomena, and even surface
behaviors. In order to well understand the mechanism of such a complex process,
numerous researches have been performed on all kinds of welding conditions and
materials, using both theoretical and experimental methods. In recent years, numerical
method provides a powerful tool in studying these interactions and much related work
has been done on the numerical modeling of RSW In particular, the FEA which can
dea1 with nonlinear behaviors and complex boundary conditions has become the most
important method for the analysis of RSW process.

The aim of this project work is to develop a numerical model of the resistance spot
welding process enabling to predict accurately the weld geometry development,
thermal history distribution, deformations and residual stresses in the work piece.
Studies have been focused on the electrical/thermal/mechanical modeling. The
simulation takes into account the temperature dependency of the electrical, thermal,
and mechanical material databases. The established welding parameters and boundary
conditions corresponding to the practice, (e.g. welding current, welding force, and
welding time), are employed in the model. However, modeling of such coupled
process combined electrical, thermal, mechanical phenomena is a highly nonlinear
problem and requires the precise material properties ranging from room temperature
to fusion state.

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Furthermore, understanding of the electrical and thermal contact characteristics under
various loads and elevated temperatures is obviously important for a predictive RSW
model. The contact properties can be differed markedly regarding different sheet
surface coatings. In addition, it is widely agreed for the influence of contact resistance
as well as that of contact size variation on the nugget development in the literature.

Benefits of its process advantages including joining performance, flexibility,
robustness and hi-speed of process with very high quality joints at very low cost,
RSW has found to be a major joining technique utilized for automotive assembly
fabrication. However, due to a very short operation time being commonly less
thanone second, it is not therefore an easy task to assess or disclose entirely the
internal process characteristics by practical means when the variability of welding
parameters or that of sheet configurations is encountered. Numerical modeling can be
thereforeconsidered as another approach to obtain a better understanding in process
characteristics and consequently helps improving the joining quality as well as
process performance.

1.1 RESISTANCE SPOT WELDING (RSW) PROCESS

Resistance welding was invented a century ago, and has evolved into a simple,
straightforward manufacturing process that is fast, easily automated and easily
maintained. These characteristics make resistance welding a preferred process in mass
production manufacturing situations. Resistance spot welding is one of the most
common methods of the resistance welding processes. It is used widely in the
automotive, appliance, furniture and aircraft industries to join sheet materials. In
automotive applications, resistance spot welding is used to manufacture small
reinforcing bracket as well as complete outer panels. It is conservatively estimated
that several thousands of resistance spot welds are used in an average size vehicle.
Because of the extensive usage, even a small process improvement would bring
significant economic benefits. This large potential payoff has attracted a significant
amount of research in general resistance spot welding and in specific sub-field of
resistance spot welding control.

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The basic sequence of resistance spot welding is as follows. Water-cooled copper
electrodes are used to clamp the sheets to be welded into place. Then, the force
applied to the electrodes ensures intimate contact between all the parts in the weld
configuration. An electric current is passed across the electrodes through the work
pieces. Because of the imperfect contact condition, there is an extremely high contact
resistance at the faying surface of the work pieces. This resistance generates a
substantial amount of joule heat on the contact interface which melts the metal to
make a weld.

Several authors have reported the electrical parameters vary continuously during the
welding of mild steel sheet. At the end of the first cycle, there is an increase in voltage
across the copper electrodes and a reduction in current flowing through the weld zone
until a peak stage is reached. Throughout the remaining portion of the weld cycle, the
voltage decreases to a constant value as the current increases also to a constant value.
These changes in voltage and current have also been represented as dynamic
resistance.

The contact resistance, which is the electrical resistance at the joint faying surface, is
relatively high compared to the bulk material resistance of the joint material causing
fast heating at this contact interface. The combination of heat extraction by the chilled
electrodes and rapid contact surface heating causes the maximum temperature to
occur roughly around the faying surface. As the material near the faying surface heats
up, the bulk resistance rises rapidly, and the contact resistance falls. Again, the peak
resistance is at the faying surface, resulting in the highest temperatures. Eventually
melting occurs at the faying surface, and a molten nugget develops. On termination of
the welding current, the weld cools rapidly under the influence of the chilled
electrodes and causes the nugget to solidify, joining the two sheets. In general, the
control parameters of the resistance spot welding process are the electrode force,
electric current, weld time, and surface conditions.

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1.2 PRINCIPLE OF RESISTANCE SPOT WELDING

In Resistance Spot Welding, passage of a relatively high welding current I [kA]
throughout a locally compressed work piece area (by means of an electrode force F
[kN]) during a properly defined period of time t [cycle, ms] heats this area due to
resistive heating following Joules law (Figure 1-1),

() ()
()

- Q = the heat generated [J];
- R = the ohmic resistance [ohm];
- i = the welding current [A];
- t = time [s];
- T= total weld time [s];

Figure 1-1: Principle of resistance spot welding

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Figure 1-2: Schematic of a typical spot weld sequence

1.3 TERMINOLOGY

The automotive industry has established some common terminology that can be used
when describing the spot welding process. This includes references to the welding
apparatus, welding parameters, and welding specimens. To start, the apparatus used
for spot welding is often called a welding gun. It can be modified by the type of
actuator used. In this investigation pneumatic actuator is used which can be controlled
by air pressure and will be referred to as an air gun. The actuator controls the position
of, and force applied by the electrode tips. These are the parts of the welding
apparatus that actually make contact with the material to be welded. They are
typically made of copper, because of its high electrical and thermal conductivity.
When the electrodes contact the specimen there is slight deformation of the electrode
tip. This results in a larger contact areabetween the tips and specimens than would be
found by simply measuring theelectrode face diameter. This contact is referred to as
the electrode diameter and is typically assumed to be circular. The force with which
the electrodes are pressed together is called the electrode force. This force cause an
area on the contact surfaces of the specimens to be pressed very close together. This
area is defined as the contact diameter. The entire surface between two specimens,
where the weld will form, is called the faying surface.

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The metal first begins to melt at this surface within the contact diameter. The metal
that melts, and subsequently solidifies to bond the specimens, is known as the weld
nugget. The nugget has two critical dimensions. The first is the nugget diameter
which is represented by the width of the nugget at the faying surface. The second is
the penetration depth which is the overall height of the nugget at its center. The area
around the nugget that has had its microstructure changed due to the heat of welding
is known as the heat affected zone (HAZ). A current must be passed through the
electrodes to cause the heating and melting of the specimens necessary for nugget
formation. This current is specified by the operator and is called the welding current,
the duration that the current is applied to specimen is called the weld time.

1.4 WELDING MACHINES

There are various types of welding machines used in industry today. Their size and
shape depends on their intended application. Many machines in the automotive
industry are mounted on robotic manipulator arms to move about the body of a
vehicle during assembly. Welding machines can be built for use with either DC or AC
currents. The automotive industry predominantly uses AC machines. For this
investigation AC resistance spot welding was used. Detailed description of the
machine and its operation can be found in another chapter 4.

1.5 ADVANTAGES OF SPOT WELDING

Spot welding provides many benefits over other existing welding techniques. One of
its greatest benefits is that it does not require additional material to form a weld. The
nugget formed is a combination of the material from the specimens to be welded. In
most other welding processes, such as arc-welding and metal-inert gas(MIG) welding,
a wire or rod of material must be fed into the weld area to have enough material to
form a weld. Additionally, attaching sheets of metal together is faster with spot
welding because only certain areas to be welded to establish the necessary bond
strength.

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1.6 OBJECTIVES

The goal of this investigation was to develop a credible numerical modeling scheme
and analysis procedure, verified by the experimental data, to investigate the electrical,
thermal, and mechanical phenomena in resistance spot welding of low carbon steel.
Create finite element models for studying nugget geometry in a spot welded metal
sheet joints using the commercial ANSYS finite element code. Use the finite element
model to simulate the nugget size in a spot welded joint for currently used material
low carbon steel in the automotive industry. The results of this study will be used to
identify critical parameters to be used in future quality monitoring and control
routines for resistance spot weldingtimeThe other objective of this work is to
develop a multi-coupled method to analyse the thermal and mechanical behaviours of
RSW process, reduce the computing time with the minimum loss of accuracy and get
more adequate information of the process, Improve the quality monitoring and
process control of RSW

1.7 INVESTIGATION APPROACH

To achieve this objective, it was first necessary to obtain welding data that would
characterize the various welding conditions that might be encountered in an industrial
setting. This data consisted of both the physical weld specimens produced and the
current, voltage, and force data taken during the welding process. The data was first
examined in an attempt to find any characteristics that could be used as an indicator of
an impending splash. Since the data alone did not produce any such indicator, it was
used as input to a finite element program.

The results of this program were compared to the actual experimental results of the
welds to verify the programs accuracy. After the program was proven to be accurate,
the results were examined for feasibility of use in a control routine. It was expected
that if the results of a finite element simulation proved accurate, the time required to
produce these results would not be acceptable for a real-time control mechanism.
Therefore, it was intended that the results of the simulation be used as further
verification of future control routines that would be developed. The final focus of this
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investigation involves the verification of one of these welding models. The model
uses the heat balance equation of a welded part to predict the mean temperature of the
weld. It is believed that there is a characteristic mean temperature during welding,
beyond which splash will occur. The verification of this model is the final step of this
investigation.

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CHAPTER 2

2. LITERATURE REVIEW AND CRITICAL ISSUES

Finite Element Method (FEM) has been routinely applied in automobile industries for
the analysis of structural strength and component design because of the spread of
computers with high performance, low price and development of FEM software. It is
also playing a significant role in predicting the behavior of the weld cracking, weld
distortion and residual stress in a welding area as described by Ueda et al. (2007).

To assemble various components of automobile bodies, the resistance spot welding
process (briefly named as spot welding process in this paper) for both basic two
pieces of sheets and complicated multi-pieces of sheets is widely used because of its
low cost and high productivity. In order to determine spot welding conditions before
production, many experiments have to be performed. However, the experimental
approach to clarify the detail behaviors of the spot welding process is difficult
because the spot welding time is very short. The simulation approach has
advantagesto investigate and to visualize the detail phenomena induced in the nugget
formation process.

The basic numerical simulation for the spot welding process was started from the
1960s. Archer (1960) calculated temperature change with alternative current in spot
welding using a simple one-dimensional model. Greenwood (1961) calculated
temperature change in the spot welding using an axisymmetric model. Rice and Funk
(1967) considered the change of resistance with temperature in the spot welding using
a one dimensional model. Yamamoto and Okuda (1971) imported the measured
contact diameter in the spot welding to the simulation model and temperature
distributions are computed using an axisymmetric model.

The early simulations done in 1960s and 1970s were mainly limited to the
approximate prediction of the thermal history in the spot welding process using the
one dimensional models or the axisymmetric models based on the finite difference
method (FDM) and the nugget growth was not predicted.
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In the 1980s, the electrical contact resistance was considered in the simulation
models. Nied (1984) proposed a contact model between worksheets and analyzed the
thermal deformation of stainless sheets in the spot welding using FEM. This contact
model was based on a simple elastic deformation theory and was not accurate enough.
Nishiguchi and Matsuyama (1987) proposed an elasticplastic contact model and
investigated the conditions when the expulsion occurred in spot welding process. Han
et al. (1989) considered the change of electrical resistance with contact pressure in the
heat transfer analysis using an axisymmetric FDM model. Cho and Cho (1989)
developed an axisymmetric FDM model with the consideration of the change of
electrical resistance with hardness of steel. These models neglected the changing of
the contact diameter in the spot welding process.

From the early 1990s, the coupling of the electric filed, the thermal field and the
mechanical field for the spot welding of the two pieces of sheets were gradually
considered in the simulation models. Tsai et al. (1992) developed an user subroutines
for commercial software ANSYS to simulate the spot welding process and predicted
the displacement and voltage between two electrodes. Vogler and Sheppard (1993)
considered the electrical resistance with both temperature and contact pressure in the
FEM model, and predicted the weld lobe for two pieces of mild steel sheets. Huh and
Kang (1997) analyzed thermal field and electrical field using a three-dimensional
FEM model. Matsuyama (1997) considered the effect of surface unevenness on
contact resistance in the axisymmetric FDM model. Murakawa et al. (1995) analyzed
the effects of the spot welding conditions on nugget growth for two pieces of
aluminum sheets.

Murakawa and Zhang (1998) simulated the expulsion in the welding process and
discussed the influence of initial gap between two pieces of steel worksheets. A
research group of Li et al. (1997), Sun et al. (1997) and Dong et al. (1998) analyzed
the weldability of steel sheets with surface coating, aluminum sheets and predicted the
electrode displacement and face extrusion in the spot welding process. Xu and Khan
(1999) considered the change of contact resistance with pressure in the spot welding
for a steel sheet and an aluminum alloy sheet in the FEM model. The researches in the
1990s covered the contact models, the nugget growth and occurrence of expulsion in
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the spot welding for two-piece sheets of mild steels, aluminum alloys and stainless
steels.

From the 2000s, the simulation for the nugget growth and the expulsion in the spot
welding process became possible using commercial FEM codes. Khan et al. (2000)
developed an electro-thermal FEM solver and an interface program linking thermal
mechanical solver of ABAQUS. The nugget growth during the spot welding of
aluminum alloys was predicted considering phase change and convection in the weld
pool using an axisymmetric model. The simulated results showed that the effect of
phase change and convection in the welding pool on nugget development is not
significant. Disadvantage of this type of approach is that the computed results have to
be transferred between two solvers at each iteration step. Zhang (2003) developed a
FEM software SORPAS for the spot welding process simulation and a graphical
user interface for easier industrial applications. Feulvarch et al. (2006) presented a
model considering the electrical and thermal contact resistances using SYSWELD
which is a software dedicated to the simulation of welding and heat treatment.
Furthermore, the electrical and thermal contact resistances were measured by a
developed experimental device. Loulou et al. (2006) proposed an inverse methodusing
the measured temperature histories at some points in order to determine the detail
electrical and thermal contact parameters for the simulation of the spot welding
process.

Hou et al. (2007) used ANSYS and simulated the stresses in two worksheets and the
electrode displacement in the spot welding process. Eisazadeh etal. (2010)
investigated the nugget formation in spot welding for the two pieces of worksheets
and the effects of welding parameters on temperature of contact surface were studied
using ANSYS.

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Figure 2-1: Schematic illustration of computational procedure used in FEA
technique

Although above commercial FEM codes are convenient for industrial users, the
academic researchers may have some problems if a new contact interface and a new
material model for spot welding simulation need to be developed. For these reasons,
there are still many researchers using in-house FEM programs in their research works.
Murakawa et al. (2000) developed an in-house FEM software JWRIAN and
predicted the electrode displacement and clarified its correlation with the nugget
formation. Matsuyama (2001) imported both the measured current and the voltage to
the simulation model which was named as the Hybrid-Simulation. The Hybrid-
Simulation model could predict the nugget diameter with a short time. However, it
was not a full simulation model and phenomena could not be predicted without
experimental measurement.

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Figure 2-2: Electricalthermalmechanical contact model

De et al. (2003) developed an in-house software and estimated contact diameter,
nugget diameter and thickness for different welding conditions in the spot welding of
aluminum alloy.

However, the contact pressure in this model was assumed to be equal to the
temperature dependent flow stress and discontinuous contact points in the radial
direction were not allowed. Dilthey and Ohse (2007) developed a software package
SpotSIM with various database for the prediction of nugget dimensions and the
electrode indentation in spot welding. Nodehet al. (2008) predicted the residual
stresses due to spot welding by simulation which is important for the analysis of
structure strength.

Feulvarch et al. (2004) presented a general finite element formulation of electrical
thermal contact between two surfaces. This contact algorithm could be available to
the arbitrary mesh for 2D and 3D applications. Feulvarch et al. (2004) also gave a
simulation example of the spot welding process for the three pieces of sheets using
this contact algorithm and considering the fraction of the power density dissipated at
the two contact surfaces. However, the details of the nugget formation process for the
three pieces of sheets at the different welding conditions were not the main interests in
this article. The published simulation results mainly focused to the phenomena of the
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spot welding process for the basic two pieces of worksheets. There are many spot
welds for multi-pieces of worksheets in the industrial applications such as automobile
body assemble shown in Hondas (2008) web site. The spot welding for multi-pieces
of sheets is more difficult than two pieces of worksheets and it needs to be studied in
details. In this study, the nugget formation processes under various spot welding
conditions for the two and three pieces of low carbon steel sheets used in the real
automobile bodies were focused. The real shape, real size of electrodes and real
welding conditions were used in FEM model. A thermal-elasticplastic material
model for both worksheets and electrodes were employed in simulation shown in
fig.2. The simple and reliable contact elements between the multi-piece worksheets
and between a worksheet and an electrode with independent material properties were
used. The nugget formation process was investigated firstly by experiments.

Then, the simulations for electric current flow, heat generation and nugget formation
in the spot welding process were carried out the schematic illustration of
computational procedure used in FEA technique is shown Fig.1 By comparing the
simulation results with the experimental ones, the simulation accuracy was verified.
Lastly, the weld lobe for three pieces of low carbon steel sheets was estimated based
on simulation results.

2.1 EFFECT OF ELECTRODE FORCE

The electrode force in resistance spot welding functions to ensure electricalcontact
and to retain weld nuggets from expulsion. In the process, the forcereaches a preset
value during the squeeze stage, theoretically remains constantduring weld cycles,
holds for a short period after the current terminates, and isthen released. In reality,
however, the force varies during weld cycles primarilydue to thermal expansion of the
weld joint. It is also affected by the mechanicalcharacteristics of the welding machine,
the process parameters and the thermaland mechanical characteristics of the work
piece material. However, the electrode force is to be assumed constant during and
after the spot welding process.This research project consisted of both experimental
investigations and numerical simulation studies undertaken in order to develop a
comprehensive simulation of a weld nugget during the resistance spot welding
process. Welding tests were conducted to establish the required welding parameters
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for the numerical simulations, and verify the accuracy of the simulation results in
terms of the development of weld geometry and the deformations and stresses in the
work piece. The dominant parameters of this process for spot welding a sheet
configuration are welding current, force, time, and electrode.

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28

CHAPTER 3

3. SPOT WELDING FACTORS AND BEST PARAMETERS

3.1 MATERIAL USED FOR THE STUDY

If the material whether sheet or rolled sections, is clean, little difficulty shouldbe
experienced. Low-carbon steel can be satisfactorily resistance weldedusing a wide
range of time, current, and electrode force parameters. Themetal referred to as mild
steel is that in which the carbon content does notexceed 0.15%. Carbon content has
the greatest effect on weldability ofsteels; weld hardness increases rapidly with a
small rise in carbon content.To obtain acceptable weld performance, carbon content
should be keptbelow 0.10% + 0.3t, where t is the sheet thickness in inches. For
materialsabove this range, postweld tempering may be necessary.

The material used for this study was a cold rolled formable IS 513: 2008: CR3 Low
Carbon steel. The sheet metal was provided with skin passed deep drawing properties
and a general purpose surface finish. Typically this sheet metal contained up to 0.10%
of carbon. Other than carbon there are also some other particles present in the
chemical composition of the steel used for manufacturing this sheet metal. The details
of the chemical composition are provided in the in the table given below.Furthermore
according to the manufacturer data sheet this general purpose sheet metal is typically
used for unexposed drawn parts for automotive and appliance end applications. Hence
this sheet metal was chosen to conduct the present study.

Table 3.1: Chemical compositions (IS 513: 2008)
S.No. Designation
Maximum Percentage of alloying elements
Carbon Manganese Sulphur Phosphorus
1. CR3 0.10 0.45 0.03 0.025

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29

Table 3.2: Mechanical Properties at Room Temperatures in as Delivered
condition
S.No Designation
Yield
Stress
R
e
(MPa)

Tensile
Strength
R
m
(MPa)
Elongation
Percent
Hardness
L
O
=80mm L
O
=50mm HRB HR(30T)
1.

CR3 220 Max. 350Max. 34 35 57 55

3.2 RANGE OF MATERIAL FOR SPOT WELDING
Spot welding facilitates if;
There is sufficient contact resistance sheet-to-sheet for heat to be generated by
the heavy current flow.

The heat is not conducted away too rapidly from the point at whichwelding is
desired.
Therefore, those good conductors of heat and electricity such as copper, aluminium or
silver present greater difficulties than do iron and steel, which are moderate
conductors in comparison.

3.3 CHOICE OF THICKNESS

The thickness of the sheet metal for making the coupons acts as an independent
variable in case of the determination of the coupon dimensions. The spot weld nugget
diameter depends on the thickness gauge of the sheet metal, which is presented in the
next paragraph. The thickness of the sheet metal chosen for this study was 1.5 mm
(averaged experimental value 1.49mm). The reason behind choosing this particular
thickness gauge was because most of the spot weld nugget diameter - to - thickness
expressions were derived and tested either for this particular thickness value, or this
value was near the median value for the range of thickness dimension used.

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30

3.4 ELECTRODES FOR SPOT WELDING

Resistance spot welding electrodes should be made of the materials
havinghighthermal andelectrical conductivities and sufficiently low contactresistance
to prevent burning of the workpiece surface or alloying at theelectrode face.

In addition, the electrode should have adequate strength toresist deformation at
operating pressures and temperatures. Electrodematerials for resistance spot welding
have been classified by RWMA and inInternational Standards Organization (ISO)
standard ISO 5182.

Using the proper electrodes for the spot welding application is necessary inorder to
achieve the best results in any spot welding operation. Selection ofthe alloy is
important since this can help modify the heat balance or reducethe tip wear. The tip
face diameter and contour must also be consideredsince these factors control the
welding pressure and current density whichmust be within an acceptable range for
satisfactory results. Incorrect tip facegeometry will also result in increased surface
marking.Although there are many alloys, types, sizes and shapes of
electrodescommercially available, there are six standard nose configurations and,
ofthese, there are three that are most frequently used for spot welding. Thereare: flat,
radiused and domed. Most of the welding schedules are based onthese three shapes.
Other sizes and shapes are often required to conform tothe contour of the weldment or
to suit other conditions. Each of theelectrodes are manufactured using a number of
different alloys to provide thebest combination of electrical and mechanical properties
for a particularwelding operation.

3.4.1 ELECTRODES SETTING FOR SPOT WELDING OF SHEETS

Table 3.3: Suggested electrode tip diameter corresponding to the plate thickness
for RSW
PLATE THICKNESS (mm) 0.5 0.8 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
REQUIRED ELECTRODE
DIAMETER (mm)
4 4.5 5 6 7 7.5 8.5 9.5 11 12 13

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31

Suggested electrode tip angle is 120 degrees. If the thickness of the two plates in
different, the electrode tip must have the diameter corresponding to the one required
by the thinner of the plates to which it contacts.

Figure 3-1: Electrode geometry to the thickness of the plate

3.5 SPOT WELD NUGGET DIAMETER

The most critical dimension to be determined for this study is the spot weld nugget
diameter since it plays the vital role in determining the mode of failure of the welded
joint. Several standards are set to determine the nugget dimension for a particular
sheet metal thickness. Several researchers have also proposed mathematical equations
for the calculation of a desired spot weld nugget diameter. Most of these standards
and calculations were based upon the lap shear coupon configuration. Hence, the
desired spot weld nugget diameter in this study is calculated for the lap shear coupon
configuration.

Ewing et al. (1982) and Chao (2003) have reported such standards concisely.
American Welding society (AWS), American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
and Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) jointly recommended the size of the spot
weld nugget diameter for steel according to the following equation.

D = 4 t (3.1)

Where Dand t are the nugget diameter and sheet thickness in mm respectively.
Apart from the above mentioned equation, the following two equations are widely
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32

used in the industry for the minimum nugget diameter and nominal nugget diameter
respectively.

D = ( )
(3.2)
D = ( )
(3.3)

whereD and t are in inch respectively. All these formulas provide a general idea
about the dimension but they cannot distinguish between the failure modes of the spot
weld nugget. VandenBossche (1977) first introduced such kind of formula to identify
the nugget diameter in conjunction with the material property and coupon width
value. The formula he proposed for transition weld diameter is given in the following
form.

= [
(3.4)

WhereD, wandt are the nugget diameter, coupon width and sheet thickness in
mm respectively. S
YPM
is the yield stress of the base metal. Chao (2003) later proposed
a very simple form of equation to predict the critical nugget diameter for the failure
from the interfacial mode to nugget pull out mode.

The critical nugget diameter proposed by Chao (2003) is
D = 3.41t
3
4
(3.5)

whereD and t are the nugget diameter and sheet thickness in mm.

+8.48[
(3.6)

Wheret is the thickness of the sheet metal (in mm), H
max
and H
min
are the
maximum and minimum hardness value of the spot weld joint area.
`
33

Possible causes for the undersized weld issues are:
- Dirty material
- Electrode misalignment
- Insufficient cooling
- Weld current low
- Weld force high
- Weld time short
- Wrong tips.

3.6 EXPULSION

Expulsion is the forceful ejection of molten metal from the weld. Severe expulsion
may eject enough material to create a through hole in the work piece, commonly
termed burn through. When the high current combines with inadequate electrode
force, improperly faced electrodes, or inadequate follow-up of the electrodes,
expulsion occurs due to overheating. Expulsion may occur at any interface, i.e., at the
electrode tip to work piece interface (Fig. A), or at any faying surface (Fig.B).

Fig. A Fig. B
Figure 3-2: A & B shows the types of expulsion

Expulsion is caused by lack of containment of the expanding molten metal material
between the electrode tip faces, and excessive expulsion is undesirable. Expulsion
results in internal cavities and generally reduces the strength of the weld. This
tendency is so pronounced that the maximum current is normally limited to a value
where the expulsion will not occur.

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34

Expulsion is a very significant issue for the spot welded product quality as expulsion
at the weld interface may displace or may damage adhesives or sealers. Whiskers may
prevent the installation of seals, or may damage them during installation. Corrosion is
more likely to occur when burs/whiskers are present.

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35

CHAPTER 4

4. EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

The material used in this project work is low carbon steel sheet metal, with a
thickness of 1.0 mm and 1.5 mm for both the thicknesses the length of the coupon is
80 mm and width of the coupon is 40 mm. The experiments involved joining of two
and three sheets layer of sheet metal. In this experimental study the electrode size,
squeezing force and squeezing cycle were constant throughout the study. The
parameters vary only on welding current, welding time and sheet layers as shown in
the following tables 1 to 4.

Resistance spot welding conditions include three parameterswhich are force (axial
squeezing force), electric current and welding time. The welding conditions for the
two pieces of low carbon steel sheets with 1mm and 1.5 mm thickness of each work
piece are shown in Table 4.1 and Table 4.2. Three levels ofwelding current (3.0 kA,
3.5 kA, 4.0 kA) were selected in experiments.The welding time is indicated by current
cycles which arewidely used for both alternative and direct current. One cycle is0.02
seconds and alternative current was used in the experiments. The maximumcycles of
welding current were 75 cycles (time is 1.5 seconds) and 100 cycles time is 2.0
seconds). Theaxial force applied to electrodes was 2000 N and it was kept constant
for all the experiments of sheet metal thickness 1 mm and 1.5 mm for both 2 sheets
and for 3 sheets.The similar welding conditions were applied for 3 sheets spot
welding process as per the data shown in Table 3 and Table 4. The nugget diameter
d and thickness his measured in all the experimentswith different welding
conditions for both 2 sheets and 3 sheets.

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36

Table 4.1: Experimental data for 2 sheets spot welding process with 1.0 mm
thickness
S. No Sheet metal thickness
(mm)
Spot Welding Parameters
Welding
Current (kA)
Electrode
Force (kN)
Welding time
(Cycles)
1. 1 3.5 2 75
2. 1 4.0 2 75
3. 1 4.5 2 75
4. 1 3.5 2 100
5. 1 4.0 2 100
6. 1 4.5 2 100

thickness
(mm)
Welding
Current (kA)
Electrode
Force (kN)
Welding time
(Cycles)
1. 1.5 3.5 2 75
2. 1.5 4.0 2 75
3. 1.5 4.5 2 75
4. 1.5 3.5 2 100
5. 1.5 4.0 2 100
6. 1.5 4.5 2 100

thickness
(mm)
Welding
Current (kA)
Electrode
Force (kN)
Welding time
(Cycles)
1. 1.0 3.5 2 75
2. 1.0 4.0 2 75
3. 1.0 4.5 2 75
4. 1.0 3.5 2 100
5. 1.0 4.0 2 100
6. 1.0 4.5 2 100
`
37

thickness
(mm)
Welding
Current (kA)
Electrode
Force (kN)
Welding time
(Cycles)
1. 1.5 3.5 2 75
2. 1.5 4.0 2 75
3. 1.5 4.5 2 75
4. 1.5 3.5 2 100
5. 1.5 4.0 2 100
6. 1.5 4.5 2 100

4.1 SAMPLE PREPARATION AND THE TEST PLAN 1

Figure 4-1: Two sheets spot weld coupons (specimens)

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38

4.2 SAMPLE PREPARATION AND THE TEST PLAN 2

Figure 4-2: Three sheets spot weld coupons (specimens)

4.3 SPOT WELDING MACHINE

In making a resistance spot weld, the machine used must deliver the correct amount of
current, localize it at the point where welding is desired and apply the proper pressure at
the correct time. The transformer and electrode system must also be cooled due to the
heat generated using high current in resistance welding. Therefore, a resistance welding
machine is basically composed of following systems:

Electrical system
Mechanical system
Control system
Cooling system

4.3.1 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

The electrical system of resistance welding machine supplies electrical power to the
weld in high current and low voltage, the major parts are the welding transformer and
`
39

the secondary circuit including the electrodes which conduct the welding current to
the work. According to the electrical operation, the welding machines are classified as
AC, DC and CD machines, which utilize alternating current, direct current and current
from capacitor discharge, respectively.

4.3.2 MECHANICAL SYSTEM

The mechanical system of resistance welding machines is used to hold the workpiece
and apply the welding force. For all types of welding machines, the mechanical
system and secondary circuit designs are essentially the same, the major parts include
pneumatic or hydraulic mechanisms, machine frame and some associated accessories.

A general overview of each part is shown in Fig. 3. The following sections will
mainly focus on the characteristics of resistance welding machines with air-operated
mechanism and hydraulic mechanism.

4.3.3 AIR-OPERATED MACHINES
Air-operated machines are the most popular type. It is mainly used for small size of
machines.

Figure 4-3: Overview of mechanical system of spot and projection welding
machine
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40

A - air or hydraulic cylinder B ramC - spot welding attachmentD - upper platen
E - lower platen F - knee G - flexible conductor H - transformer secondary J - knee
support

The air machines can operate very rapidly and are easily set up for welding, providing
much faster electrode follow-up because of the compressibility of air. The fast
electrode follow-up is particularly important when spot and projection welding
relatively thin sections. In addition, air-operated machines are low in noise during the
operation.

4.3.4 CONTROL SYSTEM

The objectives of the control system of welding machines are basically to:

- Provide signals to control machine actions, making the machine working
automatically following the sequence of welding steps.
- Start and stop the flow current to the welding transformer.
- Control the magnitude of the current.

Furthermore, in recent years, the new-developed control systems even have the
functions of on-line monitoring the welding quality. In servo-driven spot weld gun,
the force is also controlled using the feedback control system.

4.3.5 COOLING SYSTEM

Most resistance welding machines use water cooling, the elements needed cooling
include: SCR, secondary coil of welding transformer, welding circuit and electrodes.
A closed-loop cycling system with distillation water is commonly used as the cooling
system for resistance welding equipments.

4.3.6 A.C. RESISTANCE WELDING MACHINE

Most resistance welding machines are single-phase AC machines. This is the type of
machine most commonly used, because it is the simplest and least expensive in initial
`
41

costs, installation and maintenance. The electrical circuit is shown in Fig. 4. and Fig.5.
The power from the single phase of main power is applied to the primary side of the
welding transformer through a switch (anti-phase dual silicon-controlled rectifiers),
converted by the transformer and output high current (low voltage) on the secondary side.

In AC resistance welding, the welding current flows with positive and negative half
cycles, there is zero heat or current between these two half cycles. This is called cycling,
which can cause some undesirable effects in welding smaller and thinner parts, where the
weld time is typically under 3 cycles, because the weld may cools effectively between the
half cycles, this will result in loss of the heat required to make a good weld.

Another negative effect of cycling is that when the heat is not applied constantly
throughout the duration of the weld, the nugget growth can be irregular. Variations in the
weld nugget are directly related to the quality and strength of a weld. Other AC
disadvantages are unbalanced line loading and lower power factors due to the inherent
inductive reactance in the machine.

4.3.7 A.C. SPECIFICATION OF RESISTANCE WELDING MACHINE

For spot welding process a spot welding machine with rated configuration of rated
capacity 15KVA, the maximum short circuit secondary - 18 kAmps, with a supply
voltage of 415V and the rated frequency 50/60 Hz, control panel for the welding current,
welding time and squeeze time controller was used. The maximum electrode force is
3000 N (pneumatic loading). The welding electrodes were made of copper alloy with a
conical shaped tip surface geometry. All the welding parameters were set to obtain a
reasonably good spot weld nugget. It should be noted here that the weld lobe was not
constructed in this study by varying the welding current and welding time during the spot
welding process.

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42

Figure 4-4: Various parts of RSW machine

The variation was performed to obtain the maximum possible weld nugget diameter that
the spot welding machine can produce. After performing the spot welding operation, the
obtained spot weld nugget diameter was checked. This procedure is described in the next
section.

Figure 4-5: Resistance spot welding machine

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43

Figure 4-6: The spot welding machine selected for the experiments

4.4 SPOT WELD NUGGET DIMENSION CHECKING

The coupons were checked after spot welding them together to ensure the desirable
nugget diameter was attained. Welding quality is primarily depends on the nugget
size. There are two critical nugget size parameters. The first is the nugget diameter
which is represented by the width of the nugget at the faying surface. The second is
the penetration depth which is the overall height of the nugget at its center. The figure
below is the schematic view of the welding nugget diameter.

Figure 4-7: Schematic view of nugget size diameter
`
44

During the welding process a large amount of heat is applied on the material, it
undergoes severe changes in its micro structural format. So the hardness profile
changes along the radial axis of the spot welded (nearly) circular nugget changes
according to the applied heat. The three separate zones namely the spot welded
nugget, the heat affected zones and the base metal are clearly identified in the
following figure. These three zones have different levels of hardness values. So
investigation of the hardness profile will definitely reveal the actual dimension of the
spot weld nugget.

Figure 4-7a: Different material zones around the spot weld

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45

Figure 4-7b: Etched specimen of 1mm thickness

4.5 SPOT WELDED SAMPLE OF TEST PLAN 1

Figure 4-8: Two sheets spot weld coupons (specimens) after welding

Height of the nugget
Nugget Diameter
`
46

4.6 SPOT WELDED SAMPLE OF TEST PLAN 2

Figure 4-9: Three sheets spot weld coupons (specimens) after welding

To investigate the effect of welding time and current on nuggetsize, two series of test-
specimens of the same material werewelded, fixing one parameter and varying the
other. In order tochoose the best parameters for spot welding joint.

After welding, the samples were prepared for metallographicexamination using
standard metallography procedures. In thisstudy, Nital,which is the
recommendedEtchant for low carbon steels, was used formacrography and
investigation of thenugget size.

4.7 PREPARATION OF ETCHED SAMPLES

One method to determine the nugget diameter of a spot weld is to cut the welded
material through the centre of the weld; the piece is then mounted (in epoxy) and
polished. The polish specimen can then be etched to reveal the microstructure of the
weld. This etching will show the boundary of nugget formed during welding as well
as the boundary of the heat affected zone (HAZ).
`
47

The samples to be etched must first be trimmed down to a size by using either
shearing or hacksaw cutting. Since some material will also be removed from the cut
surface during the polishing process. After the specimen has been cut, it is cleaned
thoroughly with soap and warm water and dried. This removes the oil used in the
cutting process from the part. It also removes the contaminants that can become
lodged between the non-welded sections of the work piece during the cutting process.

Polishing is done on the samples and the faces are etched for metallography
examination to measure weld nugget size and micro structure examination of the
nugget and HAZ. The experimental results of nugget size are shown in the following
tables 4.6 to 4.11:

Figure 4-10: Nugget size for different direction (Above:
Vertical, Below: Horizontal)

The microscope was used to observe the nugget size. The sample preparation has
several steps.
1) Sectioning: limited the sample size to be examined by microscope.
2) Cold mounting: the sample is embedded in epoxy type of materials.
3) Grinding: removes the damages on the surface produced by sectioning,
grindingmaterials: abrasive paper
`
48

4) Polishing: to produce a flat and scratch-free with high reflectivity
5) Etching: using chemical to dissolve selectively the surface of materials inorder
toreveal the inhomogeneous nature in microscopic scale.

Table 4.5: Experimentally obtained values of nugget Height and Diameter for
2 lap sheets spot weld of 1mm thickness under varying welding
conditions

Table 4.6: Experimentally obtained values of nugget Height and Diameter for
2 lap sheets spot weld of 1.5 mm thickness under varying welding
conditions

Plates -2 Cycles
(1c=20ms)
Current
(KA)
Diameter
(mm)
Height
(mm)
Thickness
1mm
75

3.5 3.8 0.85
4.0 3.8 0.84
4.5 4.0 0.85
100
3.5 4.1 0.87
4.0 4.4 0.96
4.5 4.8 0.87
Plates-2
Cycles
(1c=20ms)
Current
(KA)
Diameter
(mm)
Height
(mm)
Thickness
1.5 mm
75
3.5 3.80 0.85
4.0 3.88 0.89
4.5 4.24 1.06
100
3.5 4.36 1.10
4.0 4.48 1.18
4.5 4.52 1.22
`
49

Table 4.7: Experimentally obtained values of upper nugget Height and Diameter
for 3 lap sheets spot weld of 1mm thickness under varying welding
conditions

Table 4.8: Experimentally obtained values of lower nugget Height and Diameter
for 3 lap sheets spot weld of 1mm thickness under varying welding
conditions
Plates-3 Cycles
(1c=20ms)
Current
(KA)
Diameter
(mm)
Height
(mm)
Thickness
1 mm
( lower
weld)
75
3.5 3.43 0.75
4.0 3.62 0.75
4.5 3.70 0.77
100
3.5 4.00 0.86
4.0 4.04 0.88
4.5 4.20 0.90

Plates -3 Cycles
(1c=20ms)
Current
(KA)
Diameter
(mm)
Height
(mm)
Thickness
1mm
(Upper
weld)
75
3.5 3.70 0.88
4.0 3.80 0.89
4.5 4.20 0.92

100
3.5 4.22 0.92
4.0 4.24 1.20
4.5 4.51 1.25
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50

Table 4.9: Experimentally obtained values of upper nugget Height and Diameter
for 3 lap sheets spot weld of 1.5 mm thickness under varying welding
conditions

Table 4.10: Experimentally obtained values of lower nugget Height and
Diameter for 3 lap sheets spot weld of 1.5 mm thickness under
varying welding conditions

Plates -3 Cycles
(1c=20ms)
Current
(KA)
Diameter
(mm
Height
(mm)
Thickness
1.5 mm
(upper
weld)
75
3.5 3.40 0.82
4.0 3.43 0.82
4.5 3.80 0.87
100
3.5 3.92 0.96
4.0 3.96 0.95
4.5 4.02 0.96
Plates-3
Cycles
(1c=20ms)
Current
(KA)
Diameter
(mm)
Height
(mm)
Thickness
1.5 mm
(Lower
weld )
75
3.5 3.30 0.78
4.0 3.35 0.80
4.5 3.53 0.83
100
3.5 3.58 0.86
4.0 3.70 0.90
4.5 3.88 0.89
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51

CHAPTER 5

5. INTRODUCTION TO SIMULATION OF RSW PROCESS

The RSW process has been widely employed in sheet metal fabrication owing to its
high speedsuitability for automation and inclusion in high production assembly
lines with other fabricating operationsIt is a complex process in which coupled
interactions exist between electrical, thermal mechanical, metallurgical phenomena,
and even surface behaviours. In order to well understand the mechanism of such a
complex processnumerous researches have been performed on all kinds of welding
conditions and materials, using both theoretical and experimental methodsIn recent
yearsnumerical method provides a powerful tool in studying these interactions, and
much related work has been done on the numerical modelling of RSW. In particular,
the FEA, which can dea1 with nonlinear behaviours and complex boundary
conditions, has become the most important method for the analysis of RSW process

Nied developed the first FEA model for RSW process, investigated the effect of the
geometry of electrode on work piece and predicted the deformation and stresses as a
function of temperatureHowever, the model developed was restricted to elastic
deformation, and not calculated the contact areas at the electrode work piece and
faying surfaceFurthermoremany researchers developed more sophisticated FEA
models that considered temperature dependent material properties, contact status,
phase changing, and coupled field effects on the simulation of RSW. To solve a
common coupled problem, the iterative solution procedure is an often adopted
method, in which the equations describing different domains are solved separately
using dedicated solvers, and the data exchanged at every time step until convergence
of iteration is reached.

This information is transferred forward to the next time step and the numerical
scheme of study repeated. This iterative method can also be employed to simulate the
interactions between coupled electrical, thermal, and structural fields of the RSW
process. Initially the stress field and contact status are obtained from the thermal-
`
52

mechanical analysis, and then the temperature field is obtained from the fully coupled
thermal-electrical analysis based on the contact area at the electrode work piece
interface and faying surfaceThe calculated temperature field is then passed back to
the thermal-structural analysis to update the stress field and contact status

Even if the iterative method can provide the temperature field, the electric potential
field, the stress and strain distributions in one calculation, the modelling of transient
processes with such a methodology would probably require tremendous computing
time. The objective of this project work is to develop a multi-coupled method to
analyse the thermal and mechanical behaviours of RSW process, reduce the
computing time with the minimum loss of accuracy and get more adequate
information of the process, improve the quality monitoring and process control of
RSW.

5.1 FINITE ELEMENT MODEL

5.1.1 HEAT TRANSFER ANALYSIS

Heat transfer in resistance spot welding process involves convective heat transfer as
well as heat conduction in bulk of the sheet-electrode system. The transient heat flow
in resistance spot welding process has been modeled as a case of axisymmetric heat
conduction problem.

t
T
= q +
r

k
+

z
+

v
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
C
T
r z
T
k
r
T
k
r
|
.
|
\
|
|
.
|
\
|
(1)

Where , C and k are density, specific heat and thermal conductivity respectively. All
the material properties are considered to be temperature dependent. The term q
v

refers to the rate of internal heat generation per unit volume.

The thermal boundary conditions can be decomposed from the nonlinear isotropic
Fourier heat flux constitutive relation:

`
53

q = (2)

On the boundary surface, there is

q =
n

c
cT
(3)

Where q is the heat flux through the boundary surface; n is the outward normal to the
surface.

5.1.2 ELECTRICAL FIELD ANALYSIS

The governing equation of the electrical analysis is

0

+

+

C

e
=
|
.
|
\
|
|
.
|
\
|
z
C
z r r
C
r r
e
e
c
| c
c
c
c
c|
c
| c
c
c
(4)

Where, C
e
is the electrical conductivity; is the electrical potential.

The coupled thermal electrical problem is solved by the following matrix equation:

[[
[
] []
[] []
]] {
{
}
{
}
} [
[
] []
[] [
]
] {
{}
{}
} {
{}
{}
} (5)

Where [
]is the thermal specific heat matrix; [
]the thermal conductivity matrix;

[
]the electric coefficient matrix; {} temperature vector; {} the electric potential

vector; {Q} the heat flow vector; and {I} is the current vector.

For the structural analysis, the stress equilibrium equation is given by

{ } ( ) (6)

Where is the stress; bis the body force, r is the coordinate vector.
`
54

The constructive equation of the material based on the thermo-elastic-plastic theory is
given by

{} []{} {} (7)

{} [
] ({}
[
{}) (8)

Where {} is the stress vector; [D] is the elastic-plastic matrix; {} is the strain
vector; [D
e
] is the elastic matrix; and {} is the coefficient of thermal expansion.

5.2 MODELING AND PARAMETERS

5.2.1 MODEL AND MESH

Figure 5-1 illustrates the 2-dimensional axisymmetric FEA model of RSW process
built in ANSYSprogram, where X and Y represent the faying surface and the
axisymmetric axis respectivelyIts corresponding dimensions are tabulated in Table
5.1Since the model is also mirror symmetric about thefaying surface, only the
values of the upper half of the model are listed.

Table 5.1: Model Dimensions
Dimensions OE=HI
(mm)
OI=EH
(mm)
PA=FG
(mm)
PB
(mm)
AG
(mm)
EF
(mm)
ED
(mm)
OP
(mm)

Values 2 15 5 11 18 12.5 3 32 30
o

`
55

Figure 5-1: The FEA model of RSW process

Figure 5-1a: Boundary conditions for simulation

`
56

Figure 5-2: FEM model for spot welding process with contact elements

2-D axisymmetric models of two- as well as three-sheet joining with the application
of round-face electrodes are constructed. Both electrical-thermal and mechanical
contact elements are specially treated at the electrode-to-sheet and sheet-to-sheet
interface. The imposed boundary conditions and representative mesh model can be
found in Figure 5-2.

In each analysis, the model is meshed using contact elements as shown in figure 5-2
the solid element is employed to simulate the coupled interaction between the sheets
and electrodes. In order to correctly couple and transfer the data the model must have
identical mesh both in the electrical thermal analysis and in the thermo-elastic and
plastic analysis. Whereas the element types are different or have different degree of
freedom options, as shown in Table 5.2.

Table 5.2: Element types and degree of freedom options
Analysis Solid Contact element type
Degree of freedom
(for contact
element)
Electrical-Thermal PLANE 223 CONTACT172/TARGET 169 TEMP, CURRENT
Thermo-Elastic-
Plastic
PLANE 223 CONTACT172/TARGET 169 UX, UY

`
57

5.2.2 MECHANICAL BOUNDARY CONDITIONS

Uniform load was applied at the top of the copperelectrode during welding and
holding cycle. The electrode was removed at the end of theholding cycle. At the
faying surface between the electrode and the workpiece, a contact 172element was
used. At the faying surface between workpiece and workpiece, the
verticaldisplacement of the part of faying surface under electrode was set to zero, and
asubroutine program was used to determine if the other part of faying surface is under
contact or not. If some nodes are under contact and are under pressure stress, a
zerovertical displacement was applied here.

5.2.2a INTERFACE ELEMENTS
The contact between an electrode and a sheet or between two sheets was modeled by
the interface elements (Ma and Murakawa, 2009) as shown in Figure 5-2., and Figure
5-3. If the strain
n
of the interface element in the normal direction n of the contact
interface is larger than 1.0, the state of the interface is the non-contact state. In the
initial state and non-contact state, the electrical conductivity C
e
,thermal conductivity k
and Youngs modulus E will be zero. This means that current flow through the
interface element and heat generation will be zero at the inter-face element. If the
strain
n
of the interface element in the normal direction n of the contact interface is
equal to or less than 1.0, the state of the interface is the in-contact state. In the
contact state, the electrical conductivity C
e
, thermal conductivity k and Youngs
modulus E will be a given value, respectively. This means that current flows through
the interface element and heat is generated at the interface element. In the contact
state, the interface element has a strong stiffness. The material properties of interface
contact elements used for the analysis of the electrical field, thermal field and
mechanical field are independent from worksheets and electrodes. Therefore, the
contact resistance can also be considered if it is known. The formulation of the
interface element has no much difference from the ordinary element except the
material properties and their changes with the contact states. Therefore, it is relatively
simple and reliable to deal with the electricalthermalmechanical contact between
two faces for the spot welding process simulation.

`
58

Prior to welding, the electrical initial conditions are set equal to zero, while the
temperature of entire structure is maintained at temperature of 20C. During the
welding cycle, the welding current is applied at the top of the upper electrode and zero
potential is imposed at the bottom surface of the lower electrode. Consequently, the
current flows from the upper electrode, passes through work piece and terminates at
the bottom annular section of the lower electrode. Both force and current are modelled
from practical welding signals and defined as a time-dependent function.

Figure 5-3: Contact elements

5.3 WELDING PARAMETERS AND MATERIAL PROPERTIES

The welding parameters used in this analysis arewelding current 50 Hz sine wave
AC current of 3.5kA.4kA and 4.5kAweld time, 75cycles (1.5 S): 100 cycles ( 2 S )
electrode force2000 Nhold time3 cycles (0.06S)The thermal, electrical and
mechanical properties of electrode and work piece are given in Table 3 and Table
4Because the materials are subjected to a wide range of temperatures, most of these
properties are considered as temperature dependent.

The most important property in the simulation of RSW process is the contact
resistivity of faying surface. Generally speaking, the contact resistivity is a dependent
function of contact pressure, temperature, and average yield strength of two contact
materials. It is pointed out by Vogle M, and Sheppard S., that the contact resistance
decreases as the contact pressure increases. Babu S.S., Santella M.L. developedan
empirical model is for the pressure and temperature dependence of electrical contact
resistance, a curve fitting procedure is used and the desired relationship between
contact resistance and pressure and temperature is established

`
59

During the RSW process, the contact resistivity distribution influences the current
density pattern, which affects the temperature field through Joule heating while, the
temperature fieldthen influences the mechanical pressure distribution through thermal
expansion, related to the interface resistivity. Therefore, this is a highly non-linear
problem involving the complex interaction between thermal, electrical and
mechanical phenomena. To simplify the problem, any researchers take the contact
resistivity as a function of temperature. This simplification is reasonable because,
firstly, the load is constant in a specified RSW process; secondly, the yield strength of
the materials, which determines the contact status in the contact area, is essentially
influenced by temperature with this simplification, the computing time can be greatly
reduced. Therefore, in the present work, the temperature dependent contact resistance
is imposed on the faying surface.

Table 5.3: Thermal and electrical properties of materials
Temperatur
e
C
Thermal
conductivity
W/m.C
Electrical
resistivity
.m 10
-8

Contact
resistivity
.m
2
10
-7

Specific Heat
J /(kg.C)
Mild
Steel
Copper
Electrode
Mild
Steel
Copper
Electrode
Faying
surface
Mild
Steel
Copper
Electrode
21 64.75 390.3 14.2 2.64 2.38 443.8 397.8
93 63.25 380.6 18.6 3 2.31 452.2 401.9
204 55.33 370.1 26.7 4 2.25 510.8 418.7
316 49.94 355.1 37.6 5.05 2.12 561.0 431.2
427 44.86 345.4 49.5 6.19 1.93 611.3 439.6
538 39.77 334.9 64.8 6.99 1.79 661.5 452.2
649 34.91 320 81.1 8 1.31 762.0 464.7
732 1004
760 30.50 315.5 101.1 8.98 0.567 2386 477.3
774 1004
799 1189
871 28.41 310.3 115.5 9.48 0.492
982 27.66 305 115.8 9.98 0.417
1093 28.56 300.1 117.9 0.342
1204 120.9 1189 502.4
*mild steel: Solidus-1482C1iquidus-1521C1atent heat-2.72 x 10
-5
J/kg
`
60

Table 5.4: Mechanical properties of materials

Figure 5-4: 2D Axisymmetric Quarter model geometry of 2 and 3 lapsheets

Temperature
C
Youngs
Modulus
G P
a

Yield stress
M P
a

Poissons
ratio
Coefficient of
thermal
expansion
l C
Density
Kg/m
3
Mild
Steel
Copper
Electrode
Mild
Steel
Copper
Electrode
Mild
Steel
Copper
Electrode
Mild
Steel
Copper
Electrode
Mild
Steel
Copper
Electrode
21 206 124 248 10.98 16.56
93 196 105 238 11.52 16.74
204 194 93 224 12.24 17.1
316 316 82 200 12.96 17.46
427 169 55 172 83 0.3 0.32 13.5 17.82 7800 8900
538 117 38 145 14.04 18.36
649 55 25 76 14.58 18.54
760 16 14.04 18.9
871 14 13.5 19.26
982 7
`
61


Figure 5-6: 2D Axisymmetric Half model geometry of 2 lap sheets

`
62

5.4 SIMULATION OF 2 LAP SHEETS OF 1 MM THICKENESS

The following spot welding conditions mentioned in the table 5.5, are employed in the
simulation of 2 lap sheets 1mm thickness and details of simulation, nugget geometry
and temperature distribution with respect to time are shown in the graphs.
Table 5.5: Employed spot welding conditions for 2 Lap sheets simulationof 1mm
thickness
Sample
Number
of the
Simulation
2 Lap
Sheets
Selected Spot Welding
Parameters for Simulation
Thickness
In mm
Welding
Current
(kA)
Welding
Time
(Cycles)
Electrode
Force
(kN)
1. 1 3.5 75 2
2. 1 4.0 75 2
3. 1 4.5 75 2
4. 1 3.5 100 2
5. 1 4.0 100 2
6. 1 4.5 100 2

75 cycles-3.5 KA-1mm

Figure 5-7:The predicted temperature distribution from the simulation for the
Sample 1
`
63

Figure 5-8: The predicted nugget geometry from the simulation for the sample 1

time in seconds (1cycle = 0.02 seconds) from the simulation for the sample 1

`
64

75 cycles-4 KA-1mm

sample 2

sample 2

`
65



Sample 3
`
66

sample 3


`
67


sample 4

sample 4

`
68


`
69

100 cycles-4 KA-1mm

sample 5

sample 5

`
70

Figure 5-21:The predicted temperature ( ) distribution graph with respect to

`
71


sample 6

sample 6

`
72


`
73

5.5 SIMULATION OF 2 LAP SHEETS OF 1.5 MM THICKENESS

simulation of 2 lap sheets 1.5 mm thickness and details of simulation, nugget
geometry and temperature distribution with respect to time are shown in the graphs.

Table 5.6: Employed spot welding conditions for 2 Lap sheets simulation of
1.5 mm thickness
Sample
Number
of the
Simulation
2 Lap
Sheets
Thickness
(mm)
Welding
Current
(kA)
Welding
Time
(Cycles)
Electrode
Force
(kN)
7. 1.5 3.5 75 2
8. 1.5 4.0 75 2
9. 1.5 4.5 75 2
10. 1.5 3.5 100 2
11. 1.5 4.0 100 2
12. 1.5 4.5 100 2

75cycles-3.5KA-1.5mm

Sample 7
`
74

Figure 5-26: The predictednugget geometry from the simulation for the
sample 7


`
75

75cycles-4KA-1.5mm

Sample 8

sample 8

`
76


75 cycles-4.5 KA-1.5mm

sample 9
`
77

sample 9

time in seconds (1cycle = 0.02 seconds) from the simulation for thesample 9

`
78

sample 10

sample 10

`
79


`
80

100 cycles-4 KA-1.5mm

sample 11

sample 11
`
81


`
82


sample 12

sample 12
`
83


with loading

`
84


Figure 5-45: 2DAxisymmetric half model geometry of 3 lap sheets

`
85

Figure 5-46: A practical model of resistance spot welding for three pieces of
sheets

`
86

5.6 SIMULATION OF 3 LAP SHEETS OF 1 MM THICKENESS

simulation of 3 lap sheets 1mm thickness and details of simulation, nugget geometry
and temperature distribution with respect to time are shown in the graphs.

Table 5.7: Employed spot welding conditions for 3 Lap sheets simulation of
1.0 mm thickness
Sample
Number
of the
Simulation
3 Lap
Sheets
Thickness
(mm)
Welding
Current
(kA)
Welding
Time
(Cycles)
Electrode
Force
(kN)
13. 1 3.5 75 2
14. 1 4.0 75 2
15. 1 4.5 75 2
16. 1 3.5 100 2
17. 1 4.0 100 2
18. 1 4.5 100 2


sample 13
`
87

for the sample 13

graph with respect to time in seconds (1cycle = 0.02 seconds) from the simulation
for the sample 13

`
88

75 cycles-4 KA-1mm

sample 14

for the sample 14

`
89

graph with respect to time in seconds (1cycle = 0.02 seconds) from thesimulation
for the sample 14


sample 15
`
90

for the sample 15

for the sample 15

`
91


sample 16

for the sample 16

`
92

for the sample 16

100 cycles-4 KA-1mm

sample 17
`
93

for the sample 17

for the sample 17

`
94


sample 18

for the sample 18

`
95

for the sample 18

`
96

5.7SIMULATION OF 3 LAP SHEETS OF 1.5 MM THICKENESS

simulation of 3 lap sheets 1.5 mm thickness and details of simulation, nugget
geometry and temperature distribution with respect to time are shown in the graphs.

Table 5.8: Employed spot welding conditions for 3 Lap sheets simulation of 1.5
mm thickness
Sample
Number
of the
Simulation
3 Lap Sheets Selected Spot Welding
Thickness
(mm)
Welding
Current
(kA)
Welding
Time
(Cycles)
Electrode
Force
(kN)
19. 1.5 3.5 75 2
20. 1.5 4.0 75 2
21. 1.5 4.5 75 2
22. 1.5 3.5 100 2
23. 1.5 4.0 100 2
24. 1.5 4.5 100 2


sample 19

`
97

for the sample 19

for the sample 19

`
98


sample 20

for the sample 20

`
99

for the sample 20


sample 21
`
100

for the sample 21

Figure 5-73:The predicted temperature ( ) distribution in upper & lower weld
for the sample 21

`
101


sample 22

for the sample 22

`
102

for the sample 22


sample 23

`
103

for the sample 23

for the sample 23

`
104


sample 24

for the sample 24

`
105

for the sample 24

`
106

5.8 MEASURED VALUES OF THE NUGGET

The nugget size is i.e., both nugget diameter and nugget height measured from the
obtained details of simulation under varying spot welding conditions for 2 lap sheets
spot welding and 3 lap sheets of spot welding of both 1mm 1.5 mm thicknesses. The
details of nugget are mentioned as per their welding conditions in the following
tables:
Table 5.9: Measured values of nugget diameter and height from the 1 mm
thickness of 2 lap sheets simulation

Table 5.10: Measured values of nugget diameter and height from the 1.5 mm

Sheets -2
thickness
cycles
(1c=20ms)
current
(KA)
diameter
(mm)
height
(mm)
1mm
75

3.5 3.6 0.78
4.0 3.7 0.82
4.5 3.9 0.80
100
3.5 3.9 0.85
4.0 4.2 0.88
4.5 4.6 0.84
Sheets-2
thickness
cycles
(1c=20ms)
current
(KA)
diameter
(mm)
height
(mm)
1.5 mm
75
3.5 3.70 0.82
4.0 3.82 0.83
4.5 4.14 1.00
100
3.5 4.16 1.02
4.0 4.28 1.06
4.5 4.44 1.10
`
107

Table 5.11: Measured values of upper nugget diameter and height from the
1 mm thickness of 3 lap sheets simulation

Sheets -3
thickness
cycles
(1c=20ms)
current
(KA)
diameter
(mm)
height
(mm)
1mm
(Upper
weld)
75
3.5 3.60 0.83
4.0 3.72 0.83
4.5 4.04 0.84

100
3.5 4.10 0.90
4.0 4.14 1.04
4.5 4.35 1.10

Table 5.12: Measured values of lower nugget diameter and height from the 1 mm

Sheets - 3
thickness
cycles
(1c=20ms)
current
(KA)
diameter
(mm)
height
(mm)
1 mm
( lower
weld)
75
3.5 3.33 0.69
4.0 3.52 0.70
4.5 3.65 0.70
100
3.5 3.92 0.80
4.0 4.14 0.78
4.5 4.52 0.80

`
108

Table 5.13: Measured values of upper nugget diameter and height from the
1.5 mm thickness of 3 lap sheets simulation

Table 5.14: Measured values of lower nugget diameter and height from the
1.5 mm thickness of 3 lap sheets simulation

Sheets -3
thickness
cycles
(1c=20ms)
current
(KA)
diameter
(mm
height
(mm)
1.5 mm
(upper
weld)
75
3.5 3.29 0.72
4.0 3.32 0.78
4.5 3.67 0.83
100
3.5 3.85 0.83
4.0 3.88 0.90
4.5 3.92 0.91
Sheets-3
thickness
cycles
(1c=20ms)
current
(KA)
diameter
(mm)
height
(mm)
1.5 mm
(Lower
weld )
75
3.5 3.14 0.67
4.0 3.22 0.75
4.5 3.44 0.80
100
3.5 3.48 0.81
4.0 3.54 0.84
4.5 3.67 0.82
`
109

CHAPTER 6

6. RESULTS AND DICUSSIONS

To verify the simulation results, weld experiments were done under the same welding
conditions. The welding time is 75 cycle and100 cycles AC 50Hz, respectively.
Comparisons were made between simulation and experimental results of the nugget
size. There is generally good agreement between simulation and experimental results
for most of the experiments.

The simulation results are shown in the previous chapter, which reveals the evolution
of the temperature field with welding time. The temperature field is irregular at the
initial several milliseconds. At some conducting spots, temperature increases quickly
and the maximum temperature is higher than the melting point of material. However,
the temperature far from these conducting spots is still very low. This non uniform
heating phenomenon keeps no more than few milliseconds according to the
simulation results. Within the first few millisecond of welding current, e.g., a quarter
of the first welding pulse, the temperature distribution is inclined to be uniform.

Thermal history experiencing in two-sheet and three-sheet joining cases illustrated in
figures of the previous chapter indicates that there is no variation in thermal history
for the positions located far away from the nugget and the heat affected zone (HAZ),
during the weld stage.Unfortunately for the sheet joining by RSW technique, it is not
easy to attain the same value of the highest temperature in order to compare the
thermal histories. This is due to the difference in the inherent welding parameters and
the configuration used.

`
110

CHAPTER 7

7. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE SCOPE OF WORK

7.1 CONCLUSIONS

A finite element analysis based predictive model incorporating an electrical-thermal
and thermal-mechanical coupling procedure was applied to study the heavy gauge
sheet joining by the RSW technique. This model provides a better understanding of
the effects of welding parameters on the nugget development kinetics and on the
thermal characteristics in the assembly with the use of alternating current welding
current schedules.The main conclusions of this study are:

1) It is experimentally found that the increase in the magnitude of welding current
concerning two and three-sheet welding configuration increases the nugget geometry
thick sheets and in thin sheets weld expulsion was occurred. The nugget development
exhibits similar trend for long welding time.

2) The simulation results show the increase in diameter and height of the weld nugget
when there is increase in welding current and welding time for both two sheets and
three sheets spot welding, but when there is increase in weld time, there is increase in
height of the nugget. Comparatively good nugget geometry results were obtained in 2
sheets spot welding than 3 sheets spot welding.

3) A thermal-electrical and mechanical finite element model was developed to
simulate the spot welding process and complement the experimental data. The
simulation results compare well with the measured nugget size and stress distribution.

`
111

The simulation approach of the RSW process provides better understanding of the
effects of welding parameters on the nugget formation. It provides the process
analysis, cost and time saving in welding process. From the study it was found that
the rate of weld growth is mostly influenced by welding current first, secondly the
welding time.

7.2 FUTURE SCOPE OF WORK

During the investigation undertaken in this study some other alternatives and ideas
have emerged but unfortunately not all these could be investigated in this study.

These alternative suggestions are:

1. It is recommended that this study to be continued with other parameters such
as electrode size, materials, squeezing time and welding force. It is also
recommended that various types of electrode meshing shall be investigated to
determine their effect on nugget development and formation.

2. The need to investigate the effect of other types of materials and thickness on
the resistance spot welding process and to develop model(s) for predicting
weld quality for such conditions. This will help confirm the effect of material
types and changes in material thickness on weld quality and will give
flexibility in the selection of materials types and thickness for use in the
resistance spot welding.

`
112

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