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Effects of the oxide film on the spot joining of aluminum alloy sheets: a comparative study between resistance spot welding and resistance spot clinching

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Abstract

A novel spot joining technique (i.e., resistance spot clinching) that has the features of resistance spot welding and mechanical clinching is introduced. This technique was compared with typical resistance spot welding to show the effect of the surface oxide layer on the joining quality of aluminum alloy 5052 sheets. The oxide film increases the contact resistance at each interface and makes it unstable. In both resistance spot welding and resistance spot clinching, the critical current for expulsion is lowered by oxide on the workpiece surface. However, the surface oxide layer has less effect on the stability of joining quality in resistance spot clinching. That is because in resistance spot clinching process, the melting of the workpiece is mainly caused by the Joule heat of the contact resistance between processing tape and aluminum alloy 5052 sheets (which is less affected by the surface oxide layer). Thus, the fluctuation of the contact resistance in resistance spot clinching is lower than that of resistance spot welding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300350, China

    Yu Zhang, He Shan, Yang Li, Chun Feng Zhao, Zhen Luo & Jing Guo

  2. Tianjin Key Laboratory of Advanced Joining Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300350, China

    Yu Zhang, He Shan, Yang Li, Chun Feng Zhao, Zhen Luo & Jing Guo

  3. Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Ship and Deep-Sea Exploration, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Zhen Luo

  4. Central Iron & Steel Research Institute, Beijing, 100081, China

    Cheng Yong Ma

Authors
  1. Yu Zhang
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  2. He Shan
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Correspondence to Zhen Luo.

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Funding

This research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51405334 and 51505327), the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (Grant No. 20130032110004), and the Tianjin Research Program of Application Foundation and Advanced Technology (Grant No. 15JCZDJC39400).

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Zhang, Y., Shan, H., Li, Y. et al. Effects of the oxide film on the spot joining of aluminum alloy sheets: a comparative study between resistance spot welding and resistance spot clinching. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 92, 4231–4240 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-017-0387-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-017-0387-x

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