Effect of Electrode Type and Weld Current on Service Life of Resistance Spot Weld Electrode

HSLA steels are widely preferred in the automotive industry due to their advantages of high strength, lightening of vehicle weight and formability. The fact that a lot of welding processes are carried out during the creation of the vehicle body has made the welding operations of these steels an important topic. In this study, zinc coated HX340LAD+Z steel sheet material was welded by RSW in factory conditions using different electrode types. The welding operation was carried out with different current intensities and for 300 spot welds using three different electrodes with constant weld duration. After the welding trials, the shortening of the electrodes was examined and information about the electrode lifetime was obtained. The weld core diame-ter was measured on the sheet metal; micro-structure and microhardness investigations were also made in addition to the hardness of the weld nugget of dimensional stability. The splashing in the HX340LAD+Z material was investigated by SEM imaging and EDX studies. It was shown that F type Copper electrode was more efficient for RSW operation.