Study on effect of electrode force on resistance spot welding process

This paper deals with the effect of electrode force on resistance spot welding process. As one of the most important parameters during the process, the electrode force can influence the process in different aspects. Dynamic resistance, which can reflect the internal physical variation of the workpiece, is employed to monitor the characteristic variation of the workpieces. According to theoretical analysis, large electrode force may easily induce surface expulsion. Also, it can decrease the overall dynamic resistance values and postpone the time when first melting point appears, as well as enlarge the duration between times when first melting point and peak value appear. Larger electrode force induces the initial smaller nugget diameter, and then the nugget diameter has a higher growth speed. However, the overall nugget diameter may be smaller and its growth terminates earlier than when smaller electrode force is applied. Final experiments validated all the theoretical analysis.