An Approach to the Improvement of Electrode Tip Life in Coated Steel Sheet Spot Welding

Development of Spin Electrode Spot Weding (Report 1)

Abstract

A spin electrode system was developed to improve the electrode tip life in spot welding of coated steel sheets. This method features a periodically rotating electrode which is inclined in relation to the force axis. This electrode rotation introduces a type of self-dressing action to the electrode tip and, therefore, delay tip wear. Electrode tip life tests conducted by using a prototype equipment clearly indicated superiority of this system over the conventional spot welding method and an approximately 20 times electrode life was achieved for a galvannealed steel (60/60g/m²).