International Journal of Applied Engineering Research ISSN 0973-4562 Volume 10, Number 9 (2015)

Research India Publications ::: http://www.ripublication.com

Experimental Investigation of Resistance Spot

Welding of Duplex Stainless Steel
M.Soundarrajan1, K.Pasupathi2, N.Srinivasan3, M.Prasanna Vengatesh4
1

Assistant Professor

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Muthayammal Engineering College, Rasipuram-637408, Tamilnadu, India
Soundarrajan05@gmail.com
2

Assistant Professor

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Muthayammal Engineering College, Rasipuram-637408, Tamilnadu, India
Pasupathi85@gmail.com
3

Assistant Professor

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Muthayammal College of Engineering, Rasipuram-637408, Tamilnadu, India
Srinivasanmech2011@gmail.com
4

Student

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Muthayammal Engineering College, Rasipuram-637408, Tamilnadu, India
mprasannavengatesh@gmail.com
Abstract This paper presents an extensive overview
on Experimental Investigations of Resistance Spot Welding of
Duplex Stainless Steel. The Main intention is to provide a depth
approaching into the nature of the Resistance Spot Welding of
Duplex Stainless Steel and a summary of the infinite experimental
investigative effort put into it over the years. The area chosen for
the work is dissimilar material welding, and failure mode analysis.
The major areas of research are mechanical, electrical and
thermal are growing for stainless steel manufacturing material.
Although resistance spot welding is widely used it is difficult to
ensure the consistency of joint quality in weld production. The
confidence level of the weld is achieved by the peel of test is low
due to their shortcomings such as offline and small sample to
reduce the part failure manufacturers have to extra more weld
than the originally designed weld. It is desirable to control weld
quality immediately by adjusting the input variables when
defective welds have been detected in automobile assembly line.
The areas chosen for most of the works by researchers in the past
have been found as process modeling and finite element analysis,
dissimilar metal welding, failure mode analysis, parametric
optimization and characterization of resistance spot.
Keywords Duplex Stainless Steel, dissimilar material
welding, failure mode analysis.

I. INTRODUCTION
Resistance spot welding is widely used in sheet metal
fabrication as an important metal joining process. It has got lot
of applications in the field of automobile industries, rail coach
manufacturing, aerospace and nuclear sectors, electric and
electronic industries. It can be used on a variety of materials
such as low carbon steel, nickel, aluminium, titanium, copper
alloy, and stainless steel and high strength low alloy
steel. These steels are heat treated and consequently the effects
of temperature can influence the mechanical and corrosion
resistant properties. It is sometimes necessary to localize the
heat affected zone or heat treat the assembly after joining.
Martensitic steels are magnetic [1]. Two or more dissimilar
metallic materials are welded together and its mechanical,
microstructure properties were completely analyzed with the
application in rail and automobiles industries. And the examine
its quality in different aspects.[2] In the present work, the effect
of spot welding parameters (welding current, weld time,
electrode force) on failure load of resistance spot welds of
austenitic stainless steel (304L grade ) sheets (0.5 mm to 2.0
mm thick) were analyzed. High corrosion resistance, good
weldability and aesthetic looks are the most beneficial features
which make the use of 304L grade stainless steel superior to
carbon steel and other grades of stainless steel. [3] In order to
study the significance of the process parameters i.e. current,
electrode force and weld cycles, percentage improvement in

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of Applied
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0973-4562when
Volume
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material hardness was
examined.
S/N Engineering
ratio analysis
input
defective
welds
have been detected in
Research
Publications
http://www.ripublication.com
suggested third level of weld current,third
level India
of weld
cycle :::automobile
assembly line.
and third level of electrode force as the best levels for
The areas chosen for most of the works by researchers in the
maximum percentage improvement in hardness of ASS316 past have been found as process modelling and finite element
work-piece in spot welding operation. This study helps us to analysis, dissimilar metal welding, failure mode analysis,
find out the optimum values for three parameters for Resistance parametric optimization and characterization of resistance spot
Spot Welding for 0.5mm thickness of ASS316 sheet [4] welds
Resistance spot welding (RSW) was employed to pre-join
II. EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION
refractory alloy 50Mo50Re (wt%) sheet with a 0.127 mm
gage. Five important welding parameters (hold time, electrode, A. Material preparation:
ramp time, weld current and electrode force) were adjusted in
an attempt to optimize the welding quality. It was found that
Materials should be free from rust, scale, paint, dirt and
increasing the hold time from 50 ms to 999 ms improved the other insulating materials. These can cause variability of weld
weld strength. Use of rod-shaped electrodes produced quality, increase the wear of electrodes, and may also cause
symmetric nugget and enhanced the weld strength. [5] The weld splash and surface splash. Surfaces are normally
standard size (200 - 25 - 1 mm) for the base metals was degreased for aerospace quality welds and a mechanical or
prepared and welded according to the weld schedule as lap chemical treatment may be used to achieve improved
joints. The first category was only the mild steel joints, whereas, consistency. This is particularly true for aluminium alloys
the second category was only 302 austenitic stainless steel. The where a consistent surface resistance is essential.
third category was mixed base metals of mild and 302
austenitic stainless steels [6] Transformation induced plasticity
(TRIP) and twinning induced plasticity (TWIP) effects had
been widely studied in single austenite steel. But in duplex &
() phase, such as welding materials of stainless steel, they
had been less studied. Tensile shear loading experiment of
resistance spot welding specimens prepared with 2 mm 301L
sheets, was carried out at 15C and 50C. Optical microscopy
Fig 1
Resistance spot weld specimen
and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) as well as X-ray
diffraction (XRD) were used to investigate the microstructure
Where specific surface treatments are provided by the
of weld nugget, and specimens fracture surface. [7]The
material
supplier (for use with resistance welding and adhesive
interfacial to pullout failure mode transition during the tensile
bonding,
for example), these should not be removed, otherwise
shear and cross-tension test is investigated and analysed. The
joint
performance
could be seriously affected.
tensile-shear sample geometry is chosen as a representative
case for predominantly shear load (i.e., shear force to the
sheet/sheet interface). The cross-tension test is chosen as a B. Weld parameters of resistance spot welding:
(i) Welding Current
representative case for the predominantly tensile loading
The welding current is the most essential stricture in
condition (i.e., normal force to the sheet/sheet interface). [8]
resistance
welding which determines the heat generation by a
The thickness range is 0.7 4 mm. Fatigue properties in terms
power
of
square as shown in the formula. welding current
of Wohler curves and Fatigue strength at 2*106 cycles are
applied
in
resistance welding including the single phase
compared between the different joining methods using load
alternating
current
(AC) that is still the most used in production,
transfer capacity per unit length of the joints. Fatigue strength
the
three
phase
direct
current (DC), the condensator discharge
is shown to be independent of matrix strength for spot welded
(CD),
and
the
newly
developed
middle frequency inverter DC.
joints. Spot welded, laser welded and clinched joints show
similar fatigue properties for 1mm sheet joints. Adhesive Usually the root mean square (RMS) values of the welding
bonded joints are five-fold stronger and the weld bonded joints current are used in the machine parameter settings and the
show considerable scatter with a lower bound fatigue strength process controls. It is often the tedious job of the welding
between spot welded and adhesive bonded joints. [9]The size engineers to find the optimized welding current and time for
of 0.5 mm thin AISI 420 grade (0.29 % C) was selected for the each individual welding application.
(ii) Welding time
study and effect of welding current (W2) and post heating (W3)
The heat generation is directly proportional to the
on nugget dimension, tensile shear strength, cross tension
welding
time. Due to the heat transfer from the weld zone to
strength and hardness was studied and lobe diagram was
the
base
metals and to the electrodes, as well as the heat loss
generated for said material. Result shows very narrow lobe
width being 1.3 KA at 4 cycles and 0.7 KA at 7 cycles. It was from the free surfaces to the surroundings, a minimum welding
observed that effect of W2 and W3 variables is similar on current as well as a minimum welding time will be needed to
nugget diameter. Tensile-shear breaking load increases with make a weld. If the welding current is too low, simply
increase in weld current while cross-tension breaking load & increasing the welding time alone will not produce a weld.
ductility ratio decreases with increase in weld current. Post- When the welding current is high enough, the size of the weld
heat current leads to decrease in hardness with increase in nugget increases with increasing welding time until it reaches a
size similar to the electrode tip contact area. If the welding time
nugget diameter [10]
is prolonged, expulsion will occur or in the worst cases the
Although resistance spot welding are widely used it is electrode may stick to the work piece.
difficult to ensure the consistency of joint quality in weld
(iii) Welding force
production. The confidence level of the weld is achieved by the
If the welding force is too low, expulsion may occur
peel of test is low due to their shortcomings such as offline and
immediately after starting the welding current due to fact that
small sample to reduce the part failure manufacturers have to
the contact resistance is too high, resulting in rapid heat
extra more weld than the originally designed weld. It is
generation. If the welding force is high, the contact area will be
desirable to control weld quality immediately by adjusting the9257

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Research ISSN 0973-4562
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large resulting in lowInternational
current density
and
low contact
resistance
Research
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Publications
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that will reduce heat generation and the
size of weld
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projection welding, the welding force causes the collapse of the
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projection in the workpiece, which changes the contact area
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and thereby the contact resistance and the current density. It
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further influences the heat development and the welding results.
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(iv) Contact resistance
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The contact resistance at the weld interface is the most
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influential parameter related to materials. It however has highly
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dynamic interaction with the process parameters. It is noticed
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that the contact resistance generally decreases with increasing
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temperature but has a local ridge around 300C, and it
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decreases almost proportionally with increasing pressure.
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(v) Materials properties

The thermal conductivity and the heat capacity influence the
heat transfer. In metals such as silver and copper with low
resistivity and high thermal conductivity, little heat is generated
even with high welding current and also quickly transferred
away. Hardness of material also influences the contact
resistance. Harder metals (with higher yield stress) will result
in higher contact resistance at the same welding force due to
the rough surface asperities being more difficult to deform,
resulting in a smaller real contact area. Electrode materials
have also been used to influence the heat balance in resistance
welding, especially for joining light and non-ferrous metals.
(vi) Surface coatings
Most surface coatings are applied for protection of
corrosion or as a substrate for further surface treatment. These
surface coatings often complicate the welding process. Most of
the surface coatings will be squeezed out during welding, some
will remain at the weld interface as a braze metal.
(vii) Geometry and dimensions
The geometry and dimensions of the electrodes and work
pieces are very important, since they influence the current
density distribution and thus the results of resistance welding.
The design of the local projection geometry of the work pieces
is critical in projection welding, which should be considered
together with the material properties especially when joining
dissimilar metals. In principle, the embossment or projection
should be placed on the material with the lower resistivity in
order to get a better heat balance at the weld interface
(viii)
Welding Characteristics
The electrical and mechanical characteristics of the
welding machine have a significant influence on resistance
welding processes. The electrical characteristics include the
dynamic reaction time of welding current and the magnetic /
inductive losses due to the size of the welding window and the
amount of magnetic materials in the throat. The table below
shows measured process parameters in a projection welding
process, which include the dynamic curves of the welding
current, the welding force and the displacement of the electrode,
where the sharp movement corresponds to the collapse of the
projection in the work piece.
Speci
men
no

Electrode
diameter
(mm)

Welding
current(
KA)

1
2
3
4
5

8
8
8
8
8

7
8
7
8
9

Heat
ing
time(
Ms)
7
7
8
8
9

6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6

9
8
7
7
9
8
7
8
Table 1
Welding Parameters

III. ASSESSME
IV. NT OF MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
The basic idea of a tensile test is to place a sample of a
material between two fixtures called grips 8m, which clamp the
material. The material has known dimensions, like length and crosssectional area. We then begin to apply weight to the material
gripped at one end while the other end is fixed. We keep increasing
the weight (often called the load or force) while at the same time
measuring the change in length of the sample.
A. Tensile tests
The basic idea of a tensile test is to place a sample of a
material between two fixtures called grips 8m, which clamp the
material. The material has known dimensions, like length and crosssectional area. We then begin to apply weight to the material
gripped at one end while the other end is fixed. We keep increasing
the weight (often called the load or force) while at the same time
measuring the change in length of the sample.
This creates what material scientists refer to as engineering
stress (load divided by the initial cross-sectional area) and
engineering strain (displacement divided by initial length). By
looking at the engineering stress-strain response of a material we
can compare the strength of different materials, independently of
their sizes

force(N)

12300
14700
14500
17200
18000

7
9
8
7
8
8
9
7

16000
16700
14800
15700
14500
13700
13300
15800
15900
14100
13500
18100
19200
17400
16400
16200
13500
13900
18100
15700
14200
14400

Fig 2
before tensile test

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of Applied
Research ISSN 0973-4562 Volume 10,
9 (2015)
After involve in the
welding Journal
the character
of Engineering
the component
IVNumber
RESULTS
Research India Publications ::: http://www.ripublication.com
has been changed that has shown by pictures

Spec

Diamet

current

Heating

Force

Ultimate

imen

er

(kA)

time

(N)

tensile

No

(mm)

(ms)

strength
(Mpa)

Fig 3
after tensile test

B.Metallurgical properties
Microstructure can also be used as a special tool to
predict tool life or to predict performance of a specific part. It
can also be used as an inspection tool to examine the quality of
a heat treatment or a raw material supplier.

Grain Size Measurement: This can be part of the

microstructure examination or can be conducted by itself as an
inspection tool after a forging operation, a heat treat operation,
a rolling operation, etc. Typically the finer the grain size the
better the material condition. Most alloy steels require ASTM 5
or finer grain size and some tool steels require 10 or finer grain
size

Fig 4 Grain structue of partical

18000

360

18

19200

385

24

18100

362

Plate thickness: 2mm

A. Influence of weld current
The size of the weld nugget increases rapidly with
increasing welding current, but too high current will result in

expulsions and electrode deteriorations. The figure

below shows the typical types of the welding current applied in
resistance welding including the single phase alternating
current (AC) that is still the most used in production, the three
phase direct current (DC), the condensator discharge (CD), and
the newly developed middle frequency inverter DC. This paper
presents an experimental study on physical and mechanical
properties of high strength steel plates (AISI 4130) joined by
resistance spot welding by means of hardness mapping
technique. Welding current and electrode force were selected as
experimental parameters. The welded joints were exposed to
tensile-shearing tests in order to determine the strength of the
welded zones. Hardness and microstructural examinations were
carried out in order to examine the influence of welding
parameters on the welded joints. Hardness mapping test was
conducted on the large area of weld zone, including the heat
affected zone and base plate.

Microstructure examinations include: Retained Austenite

Rating, Cast Iron Graphite Analysis, Nodularity Content,
Spheroidization Analysis, Rolling Direction, Carbides analysis
and distribution, ETA Phase Analysis, Surface condition and
grinding
affect,
Coating
Thickness
Measurements, B. Influence of force
Microporosity, Analysis, Percent phase (pearlite, ferrite, bainite,
martensite, etc.), Cementite, Steadite, Carbides in any material,
In this study, commercially pure (CP) titanium sheets
(ASTM Grade 2) were welded by resistance spot welding at
different welding parameters and under different welding
environments. The welded joints were subjected to tensileshearing tests in order to determine the strength of the welded
zones. In addition, hardness and microstructural examinations
were carried out in order to examine the influence of welding
parameters on the welded joints.. Hardness measurement
results indicated that welding nugget gave the highest hardness
and the heat affected zone (HAZ) and the base metal followed
this. The argon gas used during the welding process was seen
Fig 5
to have no influence on the hardness values. Microstructural
Microstructure of resistance spot welding
examinations revealed that the deformations took place in the
Tempered or untempered Martensite, Non Ferrous Materials welding zone during welding. The twinning took place in the
microstructure examination. We also perform microstructure grains. High electrode force and high weld cycles, were used
analysis on stainless steels of all grades including corrosion during the welding, increased the twinning
resistant steels, heat resistant steels, magnetic and non magnetic
and high strength stainless steels

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Load
Of Spot
Welds Of
Duplex10,Stainless
Steel
2205 Grade,Mechanica Confab
International
Journal of Applied Engineering Research
ISSN
0973-4562
Volume
Number
9 (2015)
V.CONCLUSION
ISSN:
2320-2491

Research
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Observing above graphs we conclude that effect of current is
[4] Ajitanshu Vedrtnam , Gyanendra Singh Study Of Effect Of Parameters
predominant as compared to heating time in the context of heat On Resistance Spot Weld Of Stainless Steel Material International Journal of
input, which in turn affects strength of weld and loading which Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT) Vol. 2 Issue 7, July 2013 ISSN:
it can sustain. Also the effect of diameter shows that reduction 2278-0181
Jianhui Xu,Xiuping Jiang,Qiang Zeng Optimization Of Resistance Spot
in diameter imparts concentrated energy input eg: 6mm [5]
Welding On The Assembly Of Refractory Alloy 50mo50re Thin Sheet
compared to 8mm. This shows that weld nugget formed using Journal of nuclear materials 366(2007) 417-425
6mm diameter electrode is stronger than that of 8mm diameter [6] A.Aravinthan and C. Nachimani, Analysis of Spot Weld Growth on Mild
electrode. Thus varying the parameters we have find the and Stainless Steel,Nugget growth by varying current and weld time was
analyzed in joining mild steel, austenitic stainless steel, and dissimilar steels
suitable weld holding the maximum with stand able limit.
Sponsored by the American Welding Society and the Welding Research
Council, August 2011
[7] Wei LIU1)y, Jun HE1), Meng FAN1), Peide LU2) and Li Deformation at
Room and Low Temperatures and Martensite Transformation in Resistance
Spot Welding Duplex & () Materials of 301L Stainless Steel SHAO2) J.
Mater. Sci. Technol., Vol.23 No.3, August 22, 2006
[8] M. Pouranvari and s. P. H. Marashi Failure Mode Transition in AISI 304
Resistance Spot Welds, November 2012, VOL. 91 Welding Journal
[9] Hans Nordberg Fatigue Properties of Stainless Steel Lap Joints. Spot
welded, adhesive bonded, weld bonded, laser welded and clinched joints of
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Resistance Welding, Matthey Metals Limited, London Reprinted from
[10] S .K .Agrawal and Nandish Shroff Vishvesh J Badheka Resistance
Stainless Steel Industry, January 2005
Spot Welding Of Martensitic Stainless Steel (Ss420) - Part I , International
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[3] D.S. Sahota, Ramandeep Singh, Rajesh Sharma, Harpreet Singh, D.S.
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