Weldability of Additive Manufactured Stainless Steel in Resistance Spot Welding

Abstract

The manufacture of complicated automobile components that are joined by resistance spot welding requires considerable cost and time. The use of additive manufacturing technology to manufacture automobile components helps reduce the overall time consumption and yields high accuracy. In this study, the weldability of conventional (C) 316L stainless steel and additive manufactured (AM) 316L stainless steel was evaluated and analyzed. After deriving the lobe diagram for both the materials, the monitoring data, nugget diameter, tensile shear strength, and hardness were analyzed. The findings of the study have opened up a massive potential for use in resistance spot welding technology for additive manufactured materials’ industries in the forthcoming years. When AM 316L stainless steel was welded in the constant current control mode, a nugget diameter of up to 4.7 mm, which is below the international standard, could be secured. Through the constant power control mode, however, the nugget diameter could be improved to a sufficient level of 5.8 mm.