• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.44-52
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• 1999

This study deals with spot weld ability of dissimilar aluminum alloy sheets in order to take advantage of its lightweight and strength. The paper also shows the relationship between weld elements(i.e. current, welding time and tip force) and weld quality on the resistance spot weld part of the same and dissimilar Al alloy. The conclusions are: (1) Because of excessive tip force, deep indentation remained at the Al 5182 side which is lower stiffness at the dissimilar Al alloy. (2) Weld quality (i.e. tensile shear strength) of dissimilar Al alloy is superior to that of the same Al 6061 alloy. (3) As long cycles, fatigue life of spot weld specimen on dissimilar Al alloy sheets was better than that of the same Al alloy.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.42-62
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• 1997

Resistance spot welding has been widely used in the sheet metal joining processes because of its high productivity and convenience. Recently, automobile industries are trying to replace partly steel sheets with aluminum alloy sheets. Among currently produced aluminum alloys, Al alloy sheets of Al-Mg-Si(6000 series) are being tested. Especially, 6000 series are the most probable substitute in view of strength and weldability. In this paper, an attempt was made to apply resistance spot welding to joining of dissimilar sheet metals (KS6383+SCPZn or KS6383+SHCP). An effort was made to balance heating rate in the Al alloy with that in the steel sheets by increasing electrode tip diameter. Although resistance spot welding of Al alloy sheet and sheet metals does not produce desirable nugget, it proved to have reasonable strength if optimal weld condition is found by tensile-shear strength and fatigue life test. Since spot weld joints in automobile are always experiencing repeated load, spot welding methodology proposed in this paper is found to be not suitable to automobile body manufacturing.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.6-11
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• 2016

Joining Al/Fe dissimilar metals is becoming a subject of special interest in the assembly of automotive parts as a trade-off between the weight lightening and the cost reduction. Although various studies have been introduced to join Al alloy with the steel sheet by fusion welding, weak joint strength and galvanic corrosion still remained as problems to be solved. As a solid state welding, friction stir welding has been preferred to fusion welding processes in the dissimilar metal joints. This study investigated friction stir spot welding (FSSW) of Al alloy to the thin steel sheet with a thickness of 0.65 mm. The conventional FSSW is a stationary spot welding process but new approach adopted an additional circumferential movement in company with high speed tool rotation. A full factorial experimental design was implemented, and the main and interaction effects of parameters were analysed on the failure load in the tensile shear test. The direction and radius of rotation were statistically significant parameters and these two parameters affected the joint width and the shape of the hook.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.239-242
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• 2009

Friction stir spot welding (FSSW), developed based on principle of friction stir welding, has been paid attention as a new solid-state spot welding process. Since FSSW can produce high-quality weld in Al alloys more easily than resistance spot welding, this process has been already used for construction of Al components in the automotive industries. Despite the large industrial interests in FSSW, fundamental knowledge on welding phenomena of this process has not been fully understood. In this study, FSSW phenomena, such as the consolidation mechanism, the microstructural evolution and the material flow, were examined in Al alloy 6061. This study clarified that the elliptical zone found in the vicinity of the pin hole on the cross section was characterized by the initially lapped surface of two sheets. Moreover, the following material flow was proposed; capture of the upper material with the threads on the pin surface, spiral flow along the tool rotation, and then release at the tip of the pin.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.379-383
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• 2001

Resistance spot welding has been widely used in the sheet metal joining processes because of low cost, high productivity and convenience. Recently, automobile and aerospace industries are trying to replace partly steel sheets with aluminum alloy sheets. But in the case of dissimilar materials, to apply resistance spot welding has been known to be very difficult owing to the effect of melting temperature. On this study, an effort was made to apply spot welding of dissimilar sheet metals, 2024 aluminum alloy and zinc coated steel sheet, evaluate the spot weld quality with tensile-shear strength test and nondestructive evaluation technique, C-scan image methodology. In this study results, as the current below 11 kA, melting of materials is not achieved well. Also as the current exceeds to 13.5 kA, the more spatters happen at welded zone and tensile-shear strength lowered. So, the feasibility of C-scan image technique proposed in the study is found to be suitable evaluation method for resistance spot weldability.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.71-76
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• 2006

In this study, the microstructure and mechanical properties of spot friction stir welded A 5052 alloy were investigated. Especially, the effect of insertion depth of welding tool on microstructural changes and mechanical properties was investigated in order to obtain the optimum spot friction stir welding condition. The lap shear load of spot friction stir welded A 5052 alloy plates showed lower value at the shallowest insertion depth and increased with tool insertion depth. At 1.6mm, the maximum value of 3.35 kN was obtained, and then dropped to lower load when the insertion depth was deeper. Spot friction stir welded joints showed shear fracture mode at shallower insertion depths and fracture mode changed to plug fracture mode as the insertion depth was deeper.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.30-35
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• 2014

According to weight lightning trend of automobile body, necessity of resistance spot welding (RSW) of Mg alloy on automobile industry is increasing rapidly because of the highest specific strength among commercial metals. Mg alloy has low electric resistance and high thermal conductivity like as Al alloy, so that needs applying high current in short time when welding. Thick oxide film of Mg alloy pollutes the electrodes and makes partial current carrying paths when on welding. Partial current carrying paths signify excessive concentration of current. There can initiate expulsion easily and reduces electrode life rapidly. Generating partial current carrying paths and expulsions are influenced by shapes of electrode. Therefore, electrode life also influenced by shape. In this study, we perform life test of RSW electrode of radius type. Measure tensile shear load and nugget size every spot alternately. As a result, radius type electrode can extend life over twice as dome type electrode.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.192-194
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• 2005

Joint strength of spot friction welded 5J32 Al alloy were investigated according to the tool shape and the tool penetration depth. General spot friction stir welding tool consists of a shoulder having bigger diameter and a threaded pin projected from the shoulder, which resulted in the generation of large up-lifting of upper plate around the weld nugget because of the deeper penetration and the severe stirring effect of threaded pin. Two kinds of welding tools without the threaded pin were used to avoid the distortion and improve the joint strength. One was a simple cylindrical shape and the other was cylindrical shape with small projection. Therefore, the process was named as spot friction welding comparing to spot friction stir welding because spot friction welding don't use a stirring effect. Using the cylindrical shape tool with small projection, the up-lifting of upper plate were avoided and joint strength were superior to that of the joint using simple cylindrical shape tool. At the 0.5mm of too penetration depth using cylindrical tool with small projection, nugget pull fracture mode can be observed and shear fracture mode were dominant at the rest conditions.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.86-94
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• 2000

This study was performed to investigate types and formation mechanism of cracks in two Al alloy welds, A5083 and A7N01 spot-welded by pulse Nd : YAG laser, using SEM, EPMA and Micro-XRD. In the weld zone, three types of crack were observed : center line crack({TEX}$C_{C}${/TEX}), diagonal crack({TEX}$C_{D}${/TEX}), and U shape crack({TEX}$C_{U}${/TEX}). Also, HAZ crack({TEX}$C_{H}${/TEX}) was observed in the HAZ region, furthermore, mixing crack({TEX}$C_{M}${/TEX}) consisting of diagonal crack and HAZ crack was observed. White film was formed at th hot crack region in the fractured surface after it was immersed to 10% NaOH water. In the case of A5083 alloy, white films in {TEX}$C_{C}${/TEX} crack and {TEX}$C_{D}${/TEX} crack region were composed of low melting phases, {TEX}$Fe_{2}SiAl_{8}${/TEX} and eutectic phases, $Mg_2$Al$_3$ and $Mg_2$Si. Such films observed $CuAl_2$, {TEX}$Mg_{32}(Al,Zn)_{3}${/TEX}, MgZn$_2$, $Al_2$CuMg and $Mg_2$Si were observed in the whitely etched films near {TEX}$C_{C}${/TEX} crack and {TEX}$C_{D}${/TEX} crack regions. The formation of liquid films was due to the segregation of Mg, Si, Fe in the case of A5083 alloy and Zn, Mg, Cu, Sim in the case of A7N01 alloy, respectively. The {TEX}$C_{C}${/TEX} and {TEX}$C_{D}${/TEX} cracks were regarded as a result of the occurrence of tensile strain during the welding process. The formation of {TEX}$C_{M}${/TEX} crack is likely to be due to the presence of liquid film at the grain boundary near the fusion line in the base metal as well as in the weld fusion zone during solidification. The {TEX}$C_{U}${/TEX} crack is considered a result of the collapsed keyhole through incomplete closure during rapid solidification.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.41-41
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• 2009

To evaluate the applicability of dissimilar joining between Mg and Al alloys in automobile manufacturing process, solid state joining processes such as magnetic pulse welding(MPW), friction stir welding(FSW) and friction spot joining(FSJ) were attempted successfully. MPW process has been concentrated mainly on round section tube to tube and tube to bar welds. AZ31 Mg alloy has been successfully welded to pure Al A1070 as well as to Al alloy A3003. While, for friction stir welding of dissimilar sheet joints, AZ31B/A6061 with the thickness of 2mm were used and a square butt joint with a good quality was obtained at the conditions of 0.8mm/sec of travel speed and tool rotation speed of 850rpm. The maximum tensile strength of 179 MPa, which was about 80 % of the Mg base metal tensile strength, has been obtained. Finally, friction spot joining was attempted to make a dissimilar lap joint between AZ31(0.8mm) and A6061(1mm), while the joint exhibited the same level of tensile shear strength as that of similar Mg joint.