Effects of Micro Resistance Spot Welding Parameters on the Quality of Weld Joints on Aluminum Thin Plate AA 1100

Resistance spot welding (RSW) is widely used in industries such as the aerospace, automotive, and electrical application industries. RSW is very useful for joining aluminum and its welding parameters lead to good quality joints. This research studied the influence of the welding parameters, such as welding current, welding time, and the electrode force, of micro resistance spot welding (MRSW) on the mechanical properties and fracture of a nugget of aluminum alloy (AA) 1100. AA 1100 plate with a thickness of 0.4 mm was used in this experiment. An alternating current (AC) RSW machine and electrode were used in this study. The welding parameters used in this study are welding current, welding time, and electrode force. Holding time is assumed to be constant. The welding time values of 6 CT, 8 CT, and 10 CT were combined with a welding current of 8 kV, and electrode forces of 32 kg, 42 kg, and 52 kg. The results showed that by increasing the electrode force, the load rate decreases, and the elongation distance tends to decrease, except for the electrode force of 52 Kg. The effect of the electrode force on the diameter and thickness of the weld nugget was not significant.

Electrode force; Micro resistance spot welding (MRSW); Weld joints; Welding current; Welding time

The RSW parameters significantly influence the mechanical properties, macrostructure, and microstructure of the weld joint. The effect of electrode force on maximum load and nugget size for a 0.4 mm thick plate of AA 1100 was studied, and the following found: (1) The result of the tensile shear test revealed that by increasing the electrode force, the load rate would be decreased; (2) The electrode force affects elongation. C8T8F32 and C8T8F52 have the longest elongation distances of more than 0.9 mm and more than 0.55 mm, respectively. The trend for elongation distance is that it tends to decrease; however, with an electrode force of 52 kg it increased; (3) The highest values for diameter (3.427 mm) and thickness (0.72 mm) were achieved using a welding time of 6 CT and an electrode force of 52 kg. The weld nugget from a welding time of 10 CT and an electrode force of 32 kg produced a weld nugget with 1.768 mm diameter and 0.8 mm thickness. This nugget diameter was the lowest, but the thickness value was the highest. The thinnest of the thicknesses was 0.56 mm and was achieved using a welding time of 6 CT and an electrode force of 32 kg. The effect of electrode force on the diameter and thickness of the weld nuggets in this study was not significant.

The author would like to express his sincere gratitude for the financial support of Penelitian Unggulan Perguruan Tinggi (PUPT) RISTEK DIKTI 2017 from the Directorate of Research and Public Service, Universitas Indonesia, through the contract number: 2730/UN2.R3.1/HKP05.00/2017 with title of “Pengembangan Proses dan Evaluasi Kinerja Pengelasan Micro Resistance Spot dan Micro Stir Spot pada Konstruksi Ringan Logam yang Berbeda (Dissimilar Materials)”.

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