• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.330-335
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• 2002

Resistance spot welding is one of the most widely used processes in sheet metal fabrication. Quality assurance of welding has been important to increase the productivity. In this study, weld quality estimation using primary circuit dynamic resistance applied to the in-process real-time systems. For quality estimation, factors relating to quality were extracted from the dynamic resistance, measured in the timer. The relationship between these factors and weld quality was determined through a artificial neural network model. This method has the advantage over the conventional one, such as obtaining the quality information without the use of extra devices.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.114-121
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• 2000

Since resistance spot welding has become one of the most popular sheet metal fabrication processes, a strong emphasis is being put on the quality of the welds. Throughout the years many quality estimation systems have been developed by many researchers to ensure weld quality. In this study, the process variables, which were monitored in the primary circuit of the welding machine, are used to estimate the weld quality with Hopfield neural network. The primary dynamic resistance is vectorized and stored as five patterns in the network. As the welding is done, the dynamic resistance patterns are recognized and the quality is estimated with the proposed method. Due to the primary process variables, it is possible to utilize this algorithms as an in-process real time quality monitoring system.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2012

The resistance spot welding of high strength steel degrades the weldability because of its high strength with rich chemical composition and coating layer to protect from corrosion. During the each resistance welding process the electrodes tip reacts with coating layer, then subsequently deteriorates and shorten electrode life. In this study, the Al-coated HPF (Hot Press Forming) steels and Zn-coated TRIP steels were used to investigate the electrode life for resistance spot welding. Experimental results show that the reactivity of Al-coating on HPF steels to electrode tip surface behaviors different from the conventional Zn-coated high strength steels. The electrode tip diameter and nugget size in electrode life test of Al-coated HPF steels are observed to be constant with respect to weld numbers. For Al-coated HPF steels, the hard aluminum oxide layer being formed during high temperature heat treatment process reduces reactivity with copper electrode during the resistance welding process. Eventually, the electrode life in resistance spot welding of Al-coated HPF steels has the advantage over the galvanized steel sheets.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1988.10a
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• pp.370-373
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• 1988

Althouah there have been many attempts to control weld quality in resistance spot welding processes, design method for an on-line feedback controller based upon process dynamics has not been suggested. This is due to the fact that the resistance spot welding is a highly complicated process, whice involves the interaction of electrical, thermal, mechanical and metallurgical phenomena. In this paper, an optimal control method based on FDM model with shunt effect is presented, which can regulate the nugget size, at the same time minimizing the control heat input. Optimal PI gain of the controller were determined by numerical optimization. Simulation results show that, as a result of the proposed optimal control, the weld nugget can be made to approach a desired nugget size with less control heat input than that required for the conventional spot welding process in the face of the shunt effect.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.43-50
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• 2013

The spot welds of Transformation Induced Plasticity (TRIP) steels are prone to interfacial failure and narrow welding current range. Hard microstructures in weld metal and heat affected zone arenormally considered as one of the main reason to accelerate the interfacial failure mode. There fore, detailed observation of weld microstructure for TRIP steels should be made to ensure better weld quality. However, it is difficult to characterize the microstructure, which has similar color, size, and shape using the optical or electron microscopy. The atomic force microscope (AFM) can help to analyze microstructure by using different energy levels for different surface roughness. In this study, the microstructures of resistance spot welds for AHSS are analyzed by using AFM with measuring the differences in average surface roughness. It has been possible to identify the different phases and their topographic characteristics and to study their morphology using atomic force microscopy in resistance spot weld TRIP steels. The systematic topographic study for each region of weldments confirmed the presence of different microstructures with height of 350nm for martensite, 250nm for bainite, and 150nm for ferrite, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.136-145
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• 2012

Resistance spot welding of TRIP780 steels was investigated to enhance understanding of weld fracture mode after tensile shear testing (TST) and L-shape tensile testing (LTT). The main failure mode for spot welds of TRIP780 steels was partial interfacial fracture (PIF). Although PIF does not satisfy the minimum button diameter (4${\surd}$t) for acceptable welds, it shows enough load carrying capacity of resistance spot welds for advanced high strength steels. In the analysis of displacement controlled L-shape tensile test results, cracks initiated at the notch of the faying surface and propagated through the interface of weldments, and finally, cracks change path into the sheet thickness direction. Use of the ductility ratio and CE analysis suggested that the occurrence of PIF is closely related to high hardness and brittle welds, which are caused by fast cooling rates and high chemical compositions of TRIP steels. Analysis of the hold time and weld time in a welding schedule demonstrated that careful control of the cooling rate and the size of a weld nugget and the HAZ zone can reduce the occurrence of PIF, which leads to sound welds with button fractures (BFs).

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.47-55
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• 2015

With using adaptive control of the resistance spot welding machine, the advantage on electrode life time for galvanized steels has been addressed. This study was aimed to evaluate the electrode life time of galvanized steels with applying the constant current control and the adaptive control resistance spot welding process for a comparison purpose. The growth in diameter of electrode face was similar for both the constant current and the adaptive control up to 2000 welds. The button diameter was decreased with weld numbers, however, sudden increase in button diameter with use of the adaptive control after 1500 welds was observed. The peak load was continuously decreased with increasing number of welds for both the constant current and the adaptive control. The current compensation during a weld was observed with using the adaptive control after 1800 welds since the ${\beta}$-peak on dynamic resistance curve was detected at later weld time. The current compensation with adaptive control during resistance spot welding enhanced the nugget diameter at the faying interface of steel sheets and improved the penetration to thinner steel sheet.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.199-202
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• 2007

The center floor is a part of underbody of cars. The assembling method is mostly a resistant spot welding. But the resistant spot welding has many demerits in productivity such as low welding speed, large spatter occurring, hard to verify the welding quality. The laser welding has many merits such as high welding speed, high static and dynamic weld strength. So the laser welding has been studied to substituted the resistant spot welding. Therefore, in this study, as a pre-evaluation stage for replacing the resistance spot welding with laser in production of automobile parts, the weldability of cold rolled and zinc coated steel sheets is studied and also evaluated the weld strength by the tensile shear test. And the shape of weld bead appearances and micro structure of the weld bead section is also evaluated.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.661-669
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• 1986

In this study, the resistance spot welding process of an aluminum alloy was analyzed through the numerical simulation including the electric contact resistance and the heat generation in the electrode. The finite element model was used to solve the electro-thermal responses in weld cycles. The resistance of the contact area was represented as the contact element modeling, but the thermal resistance between the contact surfaces was neglected. Welding tests of Alclad 2024-T3 aluminum alloy were made not only to get the input data for the numerical simulation, but also to compare the numerical results. The contact resistance was determined initially by the contact resistance tests and assumed to decay exponentially up to the solidus temperature. The temperature distributions and dynamic resistance obtained numerically were in good agreement with the experimental results. Numerical results revealed that nugget growth depends mainly on the heat generated in the workpiece and its contact area. The heat generated in the electrode has, however, only a little effect on the nugget growth, and the heat generation in the electrode-workpiece interface is initially high but decrease repidly.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.52-60
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• 2018

In the automobile industry, in order to increase the fuel efficiency and conform to the safety regulations, it is necessary to make the vehicles as light as possible. Therefore, it is crucial to manufacture dual phase steels, complex phases steels, MS steels, TRIP steels, and TWIP from high strength steels with a tensile strength of 700Mpa or more. In order to apply ultra-high tensile strength steel to the body, the welding process is essential. Resistance spot welding, which is advantageous in terms of its cost, is used in more than 80% of cases in body welding. It is generally accepted that ultra-high tensile strength steel has poor weldability, because its alloy element content is increased to improve its strength. In the case of the resistance spot welding of ultra-high tensile steel, it has been reported that the proper welding condition area is reduced and interfacial fracture and partial interfacial fracture occur in the weld zone. Therefore, research into the welding quality judgment that can predict the defect and quality in real time is being actively conducted. In this study, the dynamic resistance of the weld was monitored using the secondary circuit process variables detected during resistance spot welding, and the factors necessary for the determination of the welding quality were extracted from the dynamic resistance pattern. The correlations between the extracted factors and the weld quality were analyzed and a regression analysis was carried out using highly correlated pendulums. Based on this research, a regression model that can be applied to the field was proposed.