Publications
Developing a dissimilar metal foil-to-substrate resistance welding process
Materials changes occurring upon redesign caused redevelopment of the multiple spot resistance weld procedure employed to join a 23 micrometer thick foil of 15-7PH to a thick substrate and (at a separate location) a second, smaller thermal mass substrate. Both substrates were 304L. To avoid foil wrinkling, minimal heat input was used. The foil/thick substrate weld was solid-state, though the foil/small substrate weld was not. Metallographic evidence indicated occasional separation of the solid-state weld, hence a fusion weld was desired at both locations. In the redesign, a Co-Cr-Fe-Ni alloy was substituted for the foil, and a Ni-Cr-Mo alloy was evaluated for the small substrate. Both materials are substantially more resistive than their predecessors. This study reports development of weld schedules to accommodate the changes, yet achieve the fusion weld goal. Thermal analysis was employed to understand the effects caused by the various weld schedule parameters, and guide their optimization.