Joining Aluminium for Mass Production Industries

RESISTANCE WELDING IS the major process used for the mass production of sheet metal components but, when used on aluminium, problems arise because of the conductivity of the sheet, the rapid degradation of the copper electrodes and the tendency to solidification cracking of some alloys. It would therefore be advantageous if MIG spot welding could be applied under mass production operating conditions.

This paper describes work conducted to try and understand some of the factors influencing the resistance and MIG spot welding of aluminium alloys and thereby develop simple operating procedures and equipment to permit their implementation in areas such as the vehicle fabrication.