A new measurement method for the dynamic resistance signal during the resistance spot welding process

Abstract

To measure the dynamic resistance signal during the resistance spot welding process, some original work was carried out and a new measurement method was developed. Compared with the traditional method, using the instantaneous electrode voltage and welding current at peak current point in each half cycle, the resistance curve from the newly proposed method can provide more details of the dynamic resistance changes over time. To test the specific performance of the proposed method, a series of welding experiments were carried out and the tensile shear strengths of the weld samples were measured. Then, the measurement error of the proposed method was evaluated. Several features were extracted from the dynamic resistance curves. The correlations between the extracted features and weld strength were analyzed and the results show that these features are closely related to the weld strength and they can be used for welding quality monitoring. Moreover, the dynamic resistance curve from the newly proposed method can also be used to monitor some abnormal welding conditions.