Spot Welding Stainless Steel Sheet

I seldom use my spot welder but for certain situations it is the right tool for the job.
Spot welding stainless steel sheet. Spot welding is a popular way of joining two sheets of thin metal such as stainless steel. When welding 304 stainless steel er308 er308l and er308lsi wires are compatible but for welding 316l stainless you need a 316l wire. Accidental contact of elec trode to metal objects can cause sparks explosion overheating or fire. The sheets are placed between the two welding electrodes to which pressure is applied.
Key words resistance spot welding stainless steel dissimilar metal welding optimization failure analysis mechanical properties microstructure. Post weld heat treatment to soften and toughen the weld. For thicker base pieces step up to 035 inch to 045 inch welding wire. Passing an electric current through the welding electrodes and the sheets of metal results in a high degree of resistance in the sheets of.
It should be obvious even to the causal observer that if you put 2550 degree liquid steel over a galvanized coating that boils at 1350 degrees f. There are some goo. Sparks can fly off from the welding arc. Weld time and or weld power need to be increased to spot weld galvanized steel.
Jeff explains spot welding and gives a short demo welding stainless steel sheet. To most manufacturers spot welding is the most economical way to join two pieces of sheet metal. It has got lot of applications in the field of automobile industries. To weld sheet metal with solid wires use electrode positive ep or reverse polarity.
For mig welding stainless steel a shielding gas mixture that s 90 percent helium 7 5 percent argon and 2 5 percent carbon dioxide is generally ideal. For most jobs welding stainless steel you ll want to use 030 inch diameter stainless steel welding wire. The flying sparks hot workpiece and hot equipment can cause fires and burns. Darkmoon metals is a home based business start up i have dec.
3 3 austenitic stainless steel the austenitic stainless steels contain 16 26 cr 8 24 ni mn up to 0 40 c and small amounts of a few other elements such as mo ti nb cb and ta. The balance between the cr and ni mn is normally adjusted to provide a microstructure of 90 100. Spot welding can cause fire or explosion. Resistance spot welding is widely used in sheet metal fabrication as an important metal joining process.
While joining sheet metal is the most common use for the process resistance welding rw equipment actually can be used for a large variety of joining and heat treating projects some of which are not so well known. When mig welding galvanized steel the weld puddle is 2550 degrees f. Check and be sure the area is safe before doing any welding.