Abstract
Automobile manufacturers have employed resistance spot welding(RSW) to join steel sheets for structural rigidity o automobile body. Driven by the need to reduce weight and fuel consumption, car companies have been evaluating aluminum intensive vehicles(AIVs) as a way to reduce vehicle weight without downsizing. During the transition from all steel-construction vehicle body to aluminum intensive body, joining aluminum to steel sheets emerges as a serious contender in automobile body. This paper deals with application of transition material to RSW aluminum to steel. Placing transition material insert between the aluminum/steel interface was found very effective to overcome incompatibility between aluminum and steel. Use of transition insert allows for two separate weld muggets to be formed in their respective aluminum/ aluminum and steel/ steel interfaces. This RSW process was monitored with the aid of dynamic resistance sampling. Typical patterns in sampled dynamic resistance curves indicated formation of sound nugget. (Received February 28, 2000)