About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2026 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Forming and Joining of Advanced Sheet Metal Materials
|
| Presentation Title |
Novel, Energy-Efficient Spot-Welding Process Optimized for Dissimilar Joining of 6XXX-series Aluminum to Advanced High Strength Steels |
| Author(s) |
Rakhi Bawa, Kaue Riffel, Antonio J. Ramirez |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Rakhi Bawa |
| Abstract Scope |
To address emissions generated during manufacturing and at the tailpipe, a novel resistance spot-welding circuit design has been developed and evaluated for dissimilar metal joining of aluminum to galvanized dual-phase steel. The growing emphasis in reducing emissions encourages vehicle lightweighting with advanced high strength steels (AHSS) and aluminum alloys and prioritizes examination of the energy demands of conventional manufacturing methods. Traditional resistance spot welding uses Medium Frequency Direct Current (MFDC) circuity, which requires a continuous supply of cooling water for the electrodes and struggles to form quality joints between these dissimilar material systems due to the precipitation of brittle intermetallic compounds (IMCs). The newly developed process, Medium-Frequency Frequency-Converter (MF-FC), eliminates cooling water requirements and achieves significantly shorter weld durations with higher current pulses, decreasing the chance of IMC formation. Dissimilar welds are assessed through mechanical testing, failure mode characterization, and microscopy, and results are supplemented with finite element modeling. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Joining, Process Technology, Modeling and Simulation |