The effects of welding current and welding duration on the shear strength of spot welded austenitic stainless steel

Abstract

Introduction: Resistance spot welding is commonly employed in the fabrication of sheet metal assembly. It can be applied to join metals such as low carbon steel, nickel, aluminum, titanium, copper alloy, stainless steel and high strength low alloy steel. It is widely used in the industrial fields of manufacture and maintenance (car industry, aerospace and nuclear sectors, electronic and electric industries). Spot welding on galvanized interstitial free steel sheets with austenitic stainless steel sheets has shown that the maximum hardness values were observed in the middle of the weld nugget [1]. The effect of nucleus size on the mechanical properties in electrical resistance spot welding of chromide micro alloyed steel sheets [2] and the effect of process parameters (arc intensity, welding duration and applied load) on the mechanical characteristics of the weld joint of austenitic stainless steel 304L [3] have also been studied. The results showed that the applied load seems to be the control factor of the tensile strength of weld joint compared to the welding duration and the current intensity. This paper has focused on the effect of welding current and welding duration on the shear strength of austenitic stainless steel type 304.