April 12, 2013 To: Paul C.

Lynch From: Lab Group H Subject: Lab 10 (Spot Welding) Dear Paul: Resistance spot welding (RSW) is a process where two pieces of metal are joined by the heat generated from resistance to an electrical current. Work-pieces are held together through pressure applied by electrodes. The heat then melts the two pieces of metal at the weld spot and a weld-nugget is formed. The nugget size typically shows the strength of the weld. Spot welding is most commonly known for its use in the automotive manufacturing industry, welding sheet metal together to form the shell of a car. The basis for Lab #10 was to determine which variables in the spot welding process affect the strength of a spot weld. During this lab, thirty two different RSWs were used to weld together 2 pieces of steel in each repetition of the process. The variables that were tested were air pressure (psi), dial current (%), and time (s). Every piece was tested at air pressures of 50 and 60 psi, dial currents of 3, 4, 5, and 6%, and times of 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0 seconds. Once the welds were secure, the pieces were all tested in a tensile machine for the shear forces at failure. These forces were then recorded. Once all the data was collected, a linear regression was performed on the data to see which variables were statistically significant predictors of the weld strength. From this lab, In this lab, by increasing the dial current and the weld time had an effect on both the size of the weld nugget and the size of the heat affected zone. In both cases, increasing the current and weld time increased the size of the nugget and heat affected zone. A weld that lasts longer with more energy heats the metal more dramatically, causing larger nuggets and affecting a greater portion of the metal around the nugget. In most cases, as the weld time increases, so does the shear force of the welded metal. Additionally, a higher dial current also resulted in a higher shear force. Thus, the mechanical properties of the weld are highest at longer weld times and larger currents (when the nugget is large). From the regression analysis, not all variables are significant to the shear force. Because the p-value of the air pressure variable is 0.25 (greater than alpha = 0.05), air pressure is not a significant predictor of the shear force regression variable. Likewise, because the p-values of both the dial current and weld times are 0 (less than alpha = 0.05), these two variables are significant predictors of the shear force regression variable. The R-square value gives an idea of how well the shear force is predicted using the calculated least-squares regression equation. The closer this value is to 1.0, the better the shear force is explained by the three welding variables. The calculated R-square value of .753 (75.3%) shows that shear force has a fairly linear relationship with the air pressure, dial current, and weld time as explained by the least-squares regression equation. Each scatter plot (Figures 4-6) gives an idea of how well shear force follows a linear trend with each individual variable. Both the dial current and the weld time show a positive linear relationship with shear force. Thus, as each current or weld time increases, so does shear force value range. This is demonstrated by the positive slope of the regression line of each scatterplot. However, air pressure does not indicate a linear relationship with shear force. As air pressure increases from 50 to 60, there is not much of an increase in shear force. This is exemplified by the fairly flat regression line of the scatterplot.

The regression equation can only be used to estimate the strength of the weld for time values slightly higher than those used in the lab. It is logical that when the time of each weld goes up by a significant amount, the shear force would start to decrease because the weld quality would decreases. Too much energy would be put into the metal, and the metal would be potentially harmed because of it. For example, if we allowed the weld to go on for 10 seconds with air pressure of 50 and dial current of 5, we would get a shear force value of: Shear Force = - 2269 + 15.1(50) + 454(5) + 1347(10) = 14,226 This value is unlikely to be the true value of the shear force because the metal would be degraded if the weld was allowed to continue for so long. At first glance of the data, it was noticeable that both dial current and weld time had a positive relationship with the shear force. It was also predicted that the air pressure also had a positive relationship with the shear force. While the data gathered from regression analysis did make the shear forces linear relationship with dial current and weld time more concrete, it also illustrated that there was no solid relationship between the shear force and air pressure. Thus, the statistical analysis was useful for interpreting the data as it is concrete evidence of the relationships between the predictor and response variables. Sincerely, Lab Group H Tim Kovacs #33, Ben Messer #40, Student #2, Student #3, Student #4, Student #5 (Names in numerical order)

Sources 1) http://people.richland.edu/james/ictcm/2004/weight.html 2) http://www.pindling.org/Math/Statistics/Textbook/Chapter10_ANOVA/ANOVA.htm

Table 1: Spot Welding Lab Data Table Air Press. (psi) 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 Dial Current (%) 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 Time (s) 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 Shear Force 44 622 737 1021 1264 1344 1869 1898 1198 1063 1841 2413 1057 2339 2688 2230 400 387 718 1559 1244 1636 1792 1915 1604 1801 2450 1581 1749 2541 2498 2176 Failure Mode

Figure 1: 50psi welds

Figure 2: 60psi Welds

Regression Analysis: Shear Force versus Air Pressure, Dial Current, ... The regression equation is Shear Force = - 2269 + 15.1 Air Pressure + 454 Dial Current + 1347 Weld Time Predictor Coef SE Coef T P Constant -2268.8 784.8 -2.89 0.007 Air Pressure 15.14 12.90 1.17 0.250 Dial Current 454.49 57.70 7.88 0.000 Weld Time 1347.4 288.5 4.67 0.000 S = 364.938 R-Sq = 75.3% R-Sq(adj) = 72.6% Analysis of Variance Source DF SS MS F P Regression 3 11350763 3783588 28.41 0.000 Residual Error 28 3729041 133180 Total 31 15079804 Source DF Seq SS Air Pressure 1 183467 Dial Current 1 8262356 Weld Time 1 2904941 Unusual Observations Air Shear Obs Pressure Force Fit SE Fit Residual St Resid 13 50.0 1057.0 1754.3 152.7 -697.3 -2.10R R denotes an observation with a large standardized residual.

Figure 3: Minitab Regression Analysis

Figure 4: Shear Force vs. Dial Current Scatterplot

Figure 5: Shear Force vs. Weld Time Scatterplot

Figure 6: Shear Force vs. Air Pressure Scatterplot