Evaluation of the reliability of resistance spot welding control via on-line monitoring of dynamic resistance

In resistance spot welding (RSW), initial resistance between electrodes (RBE) determines heat input (according to Joule’s law) and greatly affects the quality of joints. In turn, RBE values are characterized by substantial uncertainty and vary during the RSW processes. To reduce their dispersions, p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of intelligent manufacturing 2023-10, Vol.34 (7), p.3109-3129
Main Authors: Butsykin, Sergey, Gordynets, Anton, Kiselev, Alexey, Slobodyan, Mikhail
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algorithms
Aluminum
Austenitic stainless steels
Business and Management
Control
Current pulses
Dispersions
Feedback
Heating
Machines
Manufacturing
Mechatronics
Power sources
Process control
Process controls
Processes
Production
Resistance spot welding
Robotics
Welding
Zirconium
Zirconium alloys
Zirconium base alloys
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Summary:In resistance spot welding (RSW), initial resistance between electrodes (RBE) determines heat input (according to Joule’s law) and greatly affects the quality of joints. In turn, RBE values are characterized by substantial uncertainty and vary during the RSW processes. To reduce their dispersions, preliminary low-current pulses are applied. In some cases, the quality of the formed RSW joints are controlled using dynamic resistances obtained by feedback from advanced power sources. In these studies, the effect of four preheating current diagrams on the stabilization of the RBE values was investigated for a wide range of parts made of copper, brass, bronze, austenitic stainless steel, as well as aluminum, titanium and zirconium alloys with thicknesses from 0.2 to 1.0 mm in various combinations. Also, the RSW process control capabilities were assessed using feedback from an up-to-date digital synthesizer of unipolar current pulses. As a result, the RBE values were stabilized in all studied cases. Ranges of the variations between the maximum and minimum RBE values decreased from about 5–11 down to 2–5 times. However, the applied algorithms of the preheating current pulses had no effect on the RBE dispersions. It was found that dynamic electrical processes in a welding gun cause distortion of actual RBE curves, which makes it difficult to control heat input and, respectively, the formation of weld nuggets.
ISSN:0956-5515
1572-8145
DOI:10.1007/s10845-022-01987-0