The development and introduction of new advanced materials has posed a serious welding challenge. Primarily based on experience and being as much an art as a science, the traditional wisdom for spot welding mild steels cannot be directly applied to new materials such as high strength steels and aluminum alloys. This book builds a solid foundation that will allow readers to deal with a variety of problems in resistance and other welding processes. In addition to an in-depth treatment of the fundamentals of resistance welding, it thoroughly examines its application and summarizes state-of-the-art research results and recent developments in resistance welding. Zhang; Hongyan The University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio, USA,Senkara; Jacek Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland,

Table of Contents

WELDING METALLURGY Solidification in Resistance Spot Welding Phase Transformations in RSW Cracking References ELECTROTHERMAL PROCESSES OF WELDING Introduction Electrical Characteristics of Resistance Welding Thermal Characteristics of Resistance Welding Heat Balance Electrode Life Lobe Diagrams References WELD DISCONTINUITIES Classification of Discontinuities Void Formation in Weld Nuggets Cracking in Welding AA6111 Alloys Cracking in Welding AA5754 Alloys References MECHANICAL TESTING Introduction Shop Floor Practices Instrumented Tests References RESISTANCE WELDING PROCESS MONITORING AND CONTROL Introduction Data Acquisition Process Monitoring References WELD QUALITY AND INSPECTION Weld Quality Attributes Destructive Evaluation Nondestructive Evaluation References EXPULSION IN RESISTANCE SPOT WELDING Influence of Expulsion on Spot Weld Quality Expulsion Process and Detection Expulsion Prediction and Prevention Examples References INFLUENCE OF MECHANICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF WELDING MACHINES Introduction Mechanical Characteristics of Typical Spot Welders Influence of Machine Stiffness Influence of Friction Influence of Moving Mass Follow-Up in a Welding Cycle Squeeze Time and Hold Time Measurement Other Factors References NUMERICAL SIMULATION IN RESISTANCE SPOT WELDING Introduction Coupled Electrical-Thermal-Mechanical Analysis Simulation of Contact Properties and Contact Area Simulation of Other Factors Modeling of Microstructure Evolution Examples of Numerical Simulation of RSW Processes References STATISTICAL DESIGN, ANALYSIS, AND INFERENCE IN RESISTANCE WELDING RESEARCH Introduction Basic Concepts and Procedures Experiments with Continuous Response Experiments with Categorical Responses Computer Simulation Experiments Summary References INDEX