Welding Characteristics in Deformation Resistance Welding

Deformation Resistance Welding (DRW) is a process that employs resistance heating to raise the temperature of the materials being welded to the appropriate forging range, followed by shear deformation which increases the contacting surface area of the materials being welded. Because DRW is a new process, it became desirable to establish variable selection strategies which can be integrated into a production procedure.

A factorial design of experiment was used to examine the influence of force, number of pulses, and weld cycles (heating/cooling time ratio) on the DRW process. Welded samples were tensile tested to determine their strength. Once tensile testing was complete, the resulting strengths were observed and compared to corresponding percent heat and percent reduction in thickness.

Tensile strengths ranged from 107 kN to 22.2 kN. A relationship between the maximum current and the weld variables was established. Peak current and percent reduction in thickness are potent factors affecting the strength of a deformation resistance weld.