Online nugget diameter control system for resistance spot welding

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to provide an integrated real-time control system for resistance spot welding (RSW), which is capable of producing welds with predetermined nugget diameters. Nugget diameter is a commonly used criterion for estimating the weld quality; thus, the system can be used for online quality control of RSW. The proposed system consists of two parts: a constant current controller and an online nugget diameter estimator. The constant current controller is used to guarantee the consistency of the nugget formation and growth during the welding process, while the online nugget diameter estimator can be used as a sensor for online estimation of the nugget diameter. The proposed online nugget diameter estimator is a mathematical function of the heat energy absorbed by the weld, which is taken into account only after the time when the first melting point of a weld appears. This time can be obtained by means of the dynamic resistance curve with a high resolution. A mathematical model of the online nugget diameter estimator is proposed and realized based on the experiment results and mathematical analysis. The welding process would be terminated when the difference between the actual nugget diameter and the predetermined desired value is within a given tolerance. According to a series of experiments, the welds used in the experiments had nugget diameters, which were well within the limits and the errors were within the given tolerance.