Characterization Method of Mechanical Properties of Dissimilar Steel Resistance Plug Welding Joints

Abstract

A novel resistance plug welding process has wide prospects for dissimilar steel. However, until present, there is no effective method to characterize the mechanical properties of resistance plug welding joints. In this paper, the influence factors such as diameter of filler, diameter of surface plastic ring, and diameter of nugget were first used for analysis. Slug ratio and indentation depth (height) ratio were designed to characterize the mechanical properties of the resistance plug welding joints. The results show that smaller the slug ratio, better the mechanical properties of the joint. The tensile shear load of the joint is higher when the indentation depth (height) ratio is 92–102%, and the joint has the best tensile shear load when the indentation depth (height) ratio is 96% or 97% in this study. Slug ratio and indentation depth (height) ratio are suitable for characterizing mechanical properties of dissimilar steel resistance plug welding joints.