Dr Moslem Mohammadi Soleymani, Benyamin Sohrabinejad, Dr Aliakbar Majidi Jirandehi,
Volume 14, Issue 2 (6-2024)
Abstract
In the automobile sector, stainless steel and resistance spot welding (RSW) are often used. In this work, RSW was used to join five samples of 316L stainless steel joints at currents of 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 kA while the heat input parameters varied. The welded joints' microstructure, hardness, and mechanical properties were examined and evaluated. The base metal, heat-affected zone (HAZ), and weld areas' microstructures were all examined using optical microscopy. The mechanical characteristics of the joints were assessed using room-temperature tensile-shear testing and hardness testing. The microstructure findings revealed ferrite in many weld regions and an austenitic structure overall. In the samples with welding currents of 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 kA, the average hardness of the weld zone was 329, 258, 251, 238, and 235 Vickers, in that order. The hardness of the weld zone exhibited an inverse connection with the welding current, as an increase in welding current resulted in a drop in the resistance spot welded area's hardness. Furthermore, when heat input increased, the hardness of the HAZ reduced and increased relative to the 316L steel. The joint strength of the RSW increased with increasing welding current, as demonstrated by the tensile-shear test results for all five welded samples with varying currents. As a result, the samples with 30 and 35 kA currents failed at the weld with a force greater than 3 kN, while the other samples with lower welding currents had a failure force of less than 2 kN.
