EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF ELECTRODE LIFE IN RESISTANCE SPOT WELDING OF COATED STEEL

A review of the resistance spot welding process is given, followed by a literature study of the known issues when welding coated steels. This study presents a systematic approach to determine effect of process parameters on ultimate tensile strength as a primary & initial measure of weld quality and subsequently tip diameter. To achieve the objective an attempt has been made to select important welding parameters like weld current, weld cycle, hold time using quality tools, available literature and on scientific reasons. On the selected parameters, Experiment have been conducted as per Taguchi method and fixed the levels for the parameters. The main aimed of this work is to understanding the formation of welds, electrode tip life and electrode degradation when making resistance spot welds on hot dip galvanized steels using uncoated electrodes.