Search Results (2)

Wear of the secondary of the welding gun, caused by mechanical fatigue or due to a bad parameterization of the welding points, causes an increase in quality problems such as non-existent welds or a reduced weld nugget size. In addition to quality problems, this defect causes production stoppages that affect the final cost of the manufactured part. Different studies have focused on evaluating the importance of different welding parameters, such as current, in the final quality of the welding nugget. However, few studies have focused on preventing weld command parameters from degrading or changing. This investigation seeks to determine the wear of the secondary circuit to avoid variability in the current supplied to the welding point caused by this defect and the increase in circuit resistance, especially in industrial environments. In this work, a virtual sensor is developed to estimate the resistance of the welding arm based on previous research, which has shown the possibility of detecting secondary wear by analysing the duty cycle of the power circuit. From the data of the virtual sensor, an anomaly detection method based on the Mahalanobis distance is developed. Finally, an integral system for detecting secondary wear of welding guns in real production lines is presented. This system establishes performance thresholds based on the analysis of the Mahalanobis distance distribution, allowing monitoring of the secondary circuit wear condition after each welding cycle. The results obtained show how the system can detect incipient wear in welding guns, regardless of which part of the secondary the wear occurs, improving decision-making and reducing quality problems. Full article

In this study, the effects of electrical characteristics of an inverter combined with main welding parameters on the resistance spot weldability of advanced high strength steels (AHSS) CP1000 is investigated. The main welding parameters, current and time, were varied. The effects on the geometry and microstructure of the weld spot, the diameter of the weld pad, the hardness, the shear strength, and the efficiency of the process were studied, and the results were compared for two switching frequencies of the medium frequency converter. Furthermore, the weldability lobes were obtained as a function of the shear strength, for both frequencies. This work shows that the quality of the welding, in the established terms, is better when a lower frequency is used, even though the parameterization of the welding equipment can be easier for higher frequencies. Full article