Hıdıroglu, Mehtap; Aydın, Kemal; Kahraman, Nizamettin

During resistance spot welding (RSW), the thermal cycles that occur cause microstructural differentiations in the heat-affected zones of martensitic steels, leading to internal stresses. In this context, a new and innovative methodology has been developed to minimize the adverse effects of heterogeneous hardness changes in the welding area on joint durability. This methodology utilizes a unique prototype setup based on the regional rapid cooling (RRC) process, which is integrated into the welding machine and operates in synchronization with the machine during the process. Through this setup, the aim is to effectively control the microstructure and hardness values in the welding area. This innovative approach presents potential improvements in the field of welding technology by aiming to optimize material performance during the welding process. According to microstructure results, the RRC process has narrowed the heat-affected zone to 1.27 mm, increased the hardness values by 9.2%, showed a 3% increase in tensile-shear strength, a 9% increase in cross-tension strength, and based on fatigue strength results, no fractures occurred in all specimens subjected to a force of 0.3 kN.

Aydin, Kemal; Hidiroglu, Mehtap; Kahraman, Nizamettin

Automotive industry in recent years, has gained great importance. In line with this, DP600 and DP800 dual-phase steels and the electrical resistance spot welding method were used in the study. During the experimental trials, different welding currents (6, 7, and 8 kA) were selected and all other welding parameters were kept constant. The effects of the welding parameters on microstructure, hardness, tensile-shear, and cross-tensile strength were analyzed. In the phase measurements, 27.06–29.97% martensite and 70.73–73.85% ferrite phases were found. When the hardness values in the HAZ regions were examined, it was seen that the highest hardness values were 356 ± 5 HV in the DP600 and 451 ± 5 HV in the DP800 with a current intensity of 6 kA. Consequently, it was determined that tensile-shear and cross-tensile strengths had increased in parallel with the increase in the welding current and the highest values were determined as 8 kA–15.91 kN in tensile shear and 8 kA–4.91 kN in cross-tensile strength.