Abstract
Resistance spot welding (RSW) process is of paramount importance in automotive industry for the fabrication of metallic components. Several dissimilar alloys could easily be joined by resistance spot welding. However, the joining of the stainless steel and galvanized carbon steel is challenging task since weld fusion zone properties are affected significantly. Indeed, the reliability of the component lies in the sound quality of spot weld. The overload failure mode of the weld zone was determined by preparing lap-shear specimens and then carrying out tensile-shear test. Microstructures and hardness of the weld nuggets were also brought under considerations. It was found that weld nugget size and strength of that sheet material which has lower electrical resistance are the controlling factors of the failure mode. The aim of this study was to find out the causes of spot welds failure in terms of parameters favoring the pull-out failure mode, role of fusion zone size (FZS), nugget and base metal by controlling the process parameters.
Highlights
The biggest challenge nowadays for vehicle manufacturers is to cope themselves up to become answerable to the aspirations of the customers and to prepare themselves for the worldwide competition
The fusion zone size (FZS) of stainless steel was larger as compared to the FZS of galvanised steel due to differences in the value of thermal conductivity
Higher thermal conductivity of low carbon steel led to smaller FZS of galvanised steel side
Summary
The biggest challenge nowadays for vehicle manufacturers is to cope themselves up to become answerable to the aspirations of the customers and to prepare themselves for the worldwide competition These challenges include: resistance from corrosion, high strength of sheets, the ability of the weld joint to withstand external forces and impacts, and cost-efficiency. Automotive industry terms resistance spot welding as the most leading and dominant process for the joining of thin metal sheet parts. The increased usage of stainless steel in automotive (rail), cars and buses and the use of low carbon steels in these applications, employment of resistance spot welding of dissimilar steel sheets in modern vehicle design has become a practical requirement which is unavoidable. Due to making more spot welds than required, major increase in cost is inevitable This leads to the need of optimizing this process[4]. The weld nugget broke into two pieces in interfacial mode, whereas
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