PROJECT REPORT

MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LIMITED

SPATTER REDUCTION

Submitted by

ABHISHEK MITTAL
Roll No. - 101108003

Unde r the Guidance of

Mr. Supreet Bhullar

Associate Professor

Arun K Kumar
Deputy Manager(L-12)

Department of Mechanical Engineering

THAPAR UNIVERSITY, PATIALA

June 2014

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DECLARATION
I hereby declare that the project work entitled SPATTER REDUCTION is an authentic
record of my own work carried out at MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LIMITED as requirements
of six months project semester for the award of degree of B.E. (Mechanical
Engineering),
Thapar University, Patiala, under the guidance o f Mr. Supreet Bhullar and ER. Arun
Kumar ,
during January to June, 2014.

ABHISHEK MITTAL
101108003
Date: ___________________

Certified that the above statement made by the student is correct to the best of
our knowledge
and belief.

Mr. Supreet Bhullar

Arun Kumar K

Associate Professor

Deputy Manager(L-12)

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude and deep regards to

my guide Mr. Arun Kumar K.(Deputy Manager, Weld shop -3 MSIL), for
his exemplary guidance, monitoring and constant encouragement throughout
the course of this project
The blessing, help and guidance given by him time to time shall carry me a
long way in the journey of life on which I am about to embark.
I also take this opportunity to express a deep sense of gratitude to Mr.
Gobinath T (Assistant Manager, Weld shop - 3) and Mr.J.Edison (Senior
Manager Process Engineering cell MSIL), for his cordial support, valuable
information and guidance, which helped me in completing this task through
various stages.
I am obliged to staff members of MSIL for the valuable information
provided by them in their respective fields. I am grateful for their
cooperation during the period of my assignment.

ABHISHEK MITTAL
101108003

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CONTENTS
2

Declaration
Acknowledgement

Summary

About MSIL

Weld shop

24

Spatter Reduction

25

Procedure

29

Implementation Training Module

36

Weld Information Collection System

41

Spot checking

52

Parameter Determination

55

Automation System

70

Result

77

conclusion

78

References

79
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SUMMARY

Reduction of spatter in Ertiga line by maintain proper production process such as

avoiding
improper face cutting, tip alignment, zero touch up and keeping parameters such as
weld
time, current and pressure to acceptable limit. Spatter causes huge monetary,
productivity,
quality losses.
The project involves parameter determination which is a dominant factor in weld
spatter.
Also a concept was developed to automate the spatter reduction activities which
were earlier
done manually.

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 Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) is engaged in the business of
manufacture, purchase and sale of motor vehicles, automobile components
and spare parts (automobiles).

The other activities of the Company consist of facilitation of pre-owned

car sales, fleet management and car financing. The Company’s portfolio
includes the Maruti 800, Alto 800, Alto K10, A-star, Estilo, WagonR, Ritz,
Swift, Swift DZire, SX4, Omni, Eeco, Kizashi, Grand Vitara, Gypsy,
Ertiga and Stingray.

 The Company’s services include Finance, Insurance, Maruti Genuine

Accessories, Maruti Genuine Parts, Maruti Driving School and Autocard.
The Company’s subsidiaries include Maruti Insurance Business Age ncy
Limited, Maruti Insurance Distribution Services Limited, True Value
Solutions Limited, Maruti Insurance Agency Network Limited, Maruti
Insurance Agency Solutions Limited, Maruti Insurance Agency Services
Limited, Maruti Insurance Logistic Limited and Maruti Insurance Broker
Limited.

Listed in SENSEX ,BSE:532500 AND NSE:MARUTI

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Earlier known as Maruti Udyog Limited, it was incorporated as a Public sector
company on
24 Feb,1981 with the following objectives: •

Modernization of Indian automobile industry.

Production of fuel-efficient vehicles to conserve scarce resources.

Production of large number of vehicles which was necessary for economic growth.

Transfer of Technology
Every minute two vehicles roll out of the Maruti Plant. It is therefore imperative
that the
transfer of contemporary technology from our partner Suzuki is a smooth process.
Great
stress is laid on training and motivating the people who man and maintain the
equipment,
since the best equipment alone cannot guarantee high quality and productivity. From
the
beginning it was a conscious decision to send people to Suzuki Motor Corporation
for on-thejob training for line technicians, supervisors and engineers. This helps
them to imbibe the
culture in a way that merely transferring technology through documents can never
replicate.
At present 20% of our workforce have been trained under this program.
Maruti Code Of Conduct
A code has been developed to assist all the employees in their dealings with those
with whom
the company does business i.e., customers, dealers, and suppliers and with each
other. The
code is not a substitute for the judgment and discretion of individual e mployee in
day-to-day
work. Neither is it a replacement for company policies, which will continue to
apply. The
code contains advice for making decisions in situations where there are no
precedents, so that
a common set of norms of business behavior can grow throughout the company.

Following are the important points:

Integrity

Trust

Image
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•

Consumer Orientation

Ethics

Positive Attitude
MSIL’S GURGAON PLANT

The manufacturing plant, located about 25-km south of New Delhi in Gurgaon, has an
installed capacity of 5,00,000 units per annum. The total area of the plant is
12,02,256 m2
with a total covered area of 2,95,293 m2 . The average daily production is around
2500
vehicles a day.
The whole production facility has been divided into 3 plants: 1. Plant I (M800,
Omni, Eeco, Ritz, Wagnon R)
2. Plant II ( Zen ESTILO, Swift Dzire)
3. Plant III (Alto)
The other activities include research & development and utilities (captive power
plant, water
and effluent treatment plant, compressor house, boiler house, air washers and
incinerator
facilities.

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Managing Director (MD)
Joint Managing Director(JMD)

Director
Divisional Manager(DVM)
Deputy Divisional
Manager(DDVM)
Department Manager(DPM)

Manager
Deputy Manager
Asst. Manager
Executive
Supervisor

Technician

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The Various divisions in Maruti Udyog Limited are:
• Marketing & Sales
• Spares
• Engineering
• Quality Assurance
• Services
• Production
• Production Engineering
• Materials
• Information Services
• Finance
• Personnel and Administration

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To maintain international standards, the Japanese have evolved certain standard
quality
statements, which are strictly adhered to in the production process.
THE 5-S
Seiri

- Proper Selection

Seiton

- Arrangement
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Seiso

- Cleaning

Sheiketsu - Cleanliness
Shitsuke

- Discipline
THE 3-K

Kimerareta Koto Ga - What has been decided

Kihin Doro

as per standard

Kichin To Momoru

- must be followed
THE 3-G

Genchi

- Actual Place

Genbutsu - Actual Thing

Genjitsu - Actually
(In case of an abnormality, see the actual thing in the actual place)
AVOID THE 3-M (Proble ms affecting production)
Muri - Inconvenience
Mura - Wastage
Muda – Inconsistency

Manufacturing is the production of merchandise for use or sale using labor

and machines, tools, chemical and biological processing, or formulation. The term
may refer
to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly
applied
to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished
goods on a
large scale. Such finished goods may be used for manufacturing other, more complex
products, such as aircraft, household appliances or automobiles, or sold to
wholesalers, who
in turn sell them to retailers, who then sell them to end users – the "consumers".
Manufacturing takes turns under all types of economic systems. In a free market
economy,
manufacturing is usually directed toward the mass production of products for sale
to consumers at a profit. In a collectivist economy, manufacturing is more
frequently directed
by the state to supply a centrally planned economy. In mixed market economies,
manufacturing occurs under some degree of government regulation.

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Modern manufacturing includes all intermediate processes required for the
production and
integration
of
a
product's
components.
Some
industries,
such
assemiconductor and steel manufacturers use the term fabrication instead.

MARUTI SUZUKI MANUFACTURING PROCESS

Blanking is the cutting of a sheet metal part along a closed contour in one step.
The piece cut
out is called a blank and may be further processed. Many blanks are often
continuously cut
out of a sheet or strip. Blanking will waste a certain amount of material. When
designing a
sheet metal blanking process, the geometry of the blanks should be nestled as
efficiently as
possible to minimize material waste. A distinction should be made between the two
sheet
metal cutting processes of blanking and punching, since essentially they are the
same process.
In punching, the piece cut out is waste. In blanking, the piece cut out is the work
and is kept.
It is possible to employ fine blanking for many sheet metal cutting operations,
particularly
those involving lower total sheet thickness. Fine blanking is an adva nced
precision
pressworking process that can create cuts having close tolerances and straight
smooth edges,
without shaving or other secondary processes.
A press forces a pressure pad on the sheet metal, holding the work tightly between
the lower
die and the pressure pad. Close to, outside and all around the edge of the cut, a
v-shaped ring
projecting from the bottom of the pressure pad impinges the work piece. This
further secures
the work from movement and restricts metal flow. The cutting punch for this
operation has a
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very small clearance with the lower die, usually 1%. As pressure is applied to the
work, the
punch cuts through the metal at a slow rate. Simultaneously, another punch applies
force to
the other side of the sheet in the opposite direction. The secondary punch delivers
less force
than the cutting punch. Its purpose is to help with the cut and to prevent warping
of the bank,
a common problem in sheet metal blanking operations. The force of the support punch
is less
than and in the opposite direction of the cutting punch, therefore the summation of
both
vectors indicates that the total force, (and hence the movement), will be in the
direction
dictated by the cutting punch.

The press shop can be regarded as the starting point of car manufacturing process.
Centrally
located between weld1, weld2 and weld3 supplies components to all the three plants.
The press shop has a batch production system whereas the plants have a line
production
system. The press shop maintains an inventory of at least two days. The weld shops
as per
their requirements pick the finished body parts. These may be divided as A, B & C.
‘A’
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components are large outer components e.g. roof, door panels, front hood etc. These
components are manufactured in the press shop at maruti due to design secrecy and
huge
investment requirements. ‘B’ & ’C’ components are manufactured by joint ventures or
bought from vendors.
The press shop can be explained under following headings
•

Raw Material

Blanking Line

Stamping Line

RAW MATERIAL
The raw material is in the form of cold rolled steel coils. It is specified in
terms of steel grade
and width of coil required. The coils weigh about 15000kg.

BLANKING LINE
There are two blanking lines; ROSL (Rotary Oscillatory Shear Line) for rectangular
sheets
and the other employing die cutting, for irregular shapes.

The rectangular sheets are obtained on ROSL while dies are employed to obtain the
required
shape sheets.
The sequences of operations on the blanking line are as following: •

Uncoiling

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•

Cleaning

Leveling

Measuring

Shearing/cutting

Piling/stacking

STAMPING LINE
There are six presses of capacity varying from 1500 tones to 4000 tones.
Of these five are transfer presses and one is a semi-automatic press line, wherein
the
loading is manual. The dies can be changed to obtain different body components. The
sequence of operations is as following: •

Destacking

Cleaning

Drawing

Trimming

Bending

Punching

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Drawing refers to giving the basic shape to the sheet. The dies used for drawing
leave
margins that are cut by trimming process. Depending upon complexity of the part
bending
and punching may be done using 2 or 3 dies.
Overall the machine provides for an option of 5 dies to be placed.
Adjusting the strokes per minute of the press can vary the rate of production.
Transfer
Presses used here have a maximum speed of 60 strokes per minute.

 Welding is a materials joining process which produces coalescence of materials by

heating them to suitable temperatures with or without the application of pressure
or by
the application of pressure alone, and with or without the use of filler material.
 Welding is used for making permanent joints.
 It is used in the manufacture of automobile bodies, aircraft frames, railway
wagons,
machine frames, structural works, tanks, furniture, boilers, general repair work
and
ship building.
 Skyscrapers, exotic cars, rocket launches -- certain things simply demand your
attention. Welding, in all likelihood, isn't one of them. You may have gone your
whole life without ever having thought about the subject. It might surprise you
then,
that welding affects an estimated 50 percent of the United States gross national
product Without it, none of those amazing skyscrapers, cars or rockets would exist.
 There are tons of different welding methods, and more are being invented all the
time.
Some methods use heat to essentially melt two pieces of metal together, often
adding
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a "filler metal" into the joint to act as a binding agent. Other methods rely on
pressure
to bind metal together, and still others use a combination of both heat and
pressure.
Unlike soldering and brazing, where the metal pieces being joined remain unaltered,
the process of welding always changes the work pieces.

This is restricted area and I could not get permission to go inside. A single
particle of dust if
embedded onto the body the paint would chip off. Hence the entry of non- factory
personnel is
restricted in order to avoid the entry of dust particles.
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However the information regarding the process outline in the paint shop gathered
from other
sources is as following: I. Pre-treatment: The body is thoroughly washed to remove
dirt and oil scales.
II. ED coat: This is done by electric deposition method. After applying the ED coat
body
is baked in ovens.
III. Inte rmediate coat: This is done by spray painting method. After applying the
coat,
the body is dried in the oven.
IV. Final coat: For metallic coating, double coats are applied and aluminum flakes
provide the shine to metallic paint. This is also done by spray painting
method. The PBOK, i.e. Paint Body OK is sent to the assembly shop.

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Painting process I/C
& Top Coat painting

Painting

process

Final

Inspection

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The assembly shop receives PB-OK i.e. paint body OK from the paint shop. Here the
body is
loaded on a conveyor on jigs. As the conveyor moves the fitments are made on the
body at
various stations.
The sequencing of models is done by PLC i.e. Program Logic Control. In Plant-1
there are
separate assembly lines for each model as compared toPlant-2which has only one U
type
plant layout for different models. Altering the speed of the conveyor can alter the
capacity of
shop. The Plant-3 conveyor runs at 2.7m/min. The conveyor belt can run at a maximum
speed
of 4 m/min.
Assembly shops havecontinuous production system. The assembly line can be further
subdivided as following: •

Trim

Chassis

Final

TRIM
Trim can be further subdivided as following: 1. Trim 1
2. Trim 2
3. Trim 3
Trim 1: This is the beginning of the assembly line conveyor. Here amongst the first
tasks
done is attaching the hydraulic supporters for the boot. The assembly line check
sheet is put
inside the body.

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Trim 2: It starts with the head light fitting. Other operations done here are
vacuum booster/
brake master cylinder fitment, seat belts, fuse box, wiper sprayer and motor,
accelerator,
clutch, brake pedals, door glasses and a/c panel fitment. Trim 2 ends with the
fitment of the
instrument panel, which is received from an instrument panel, sub assembly. This
sub
assembly involves the fitting of the speedometer console, ashtray and stereo
system. Besides
all these ignition coil for Car800.
Trim 3: The fittings done here are rear inside cover for boot, back door glass and
windshield,
quarter glasses and connecting pipe between fuel lid and fuel tank. Car800's front
coil spring
is also fitted here. Steering gear is mounted. For comedienne application on the
windshield,
Motoman robots are employed.
There is a process check at the end of trim line wherein the points in the check
sheet are
verified and marked ok.

CHASSIS
The chassis receives a trim up body. Here underbody fitments are made; hence body
is loaded
on overhead jigs. Chassis can be subdivided as following: 1. Chassis 1
2. Chassis 2

Chassis 1: Various fitments made here are rear shock absorbers, brake pipes, front
coil spring
with knuckle, steering wheel, tie rods, rear suspension, fuel pipes, fuel tank and
rear brake
drum. There is a knuckle sub assembly that feeds the line with knuckles for t he
front
suspension system. On front wheels disc brakes are used whereas on rear wheels drum
brakes are used. There is a process check at the end of chassis 1.

Chassis 2: The various fitments made here exhaust system (silencer and catalytic
converter),
engine cum transmission case assembly, gear shift rod, front and rear bumpers,
stabilizer bars
and tyres. Radiator of Car800 is fitted here. The tie rod and drive shafts are
connected to the
knuckle to complete the front suspension system. There is a process check at the
end of
chassis 2.

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FINAL
Since all the fitments have been made, we will refer the body as vehicle from now
onwards.
The vehicle is loaded on the conveyor. It can be further subdivided as: •

Final 1

Final 2

Final 1: The fitments made here are Spare wheel cover, ID plate, scuff, seats, roof
trim and
carpet, boot carpet, battery and air cleaner. Clutch cable and parking brake
connections are
made. Brakes are evacuated and brake oil is filled. Coolant is also filled.

Final 2: Five liters of petrol is filled in the vehicle. A/C evacuation and
charging is done
here, the refrigerant used here is R134a (400 gm +- 50). Door gaps are checked and
adjusted,
front grill of Car800 is fitted.
There is a process check at the end of this line. Here the vehicle is checked for
the following
as per the check sheet: •

Final- Engine room

Final-Cabin

Final-Pit

Final-Side body

Final-Engine room: Engine oil, brake oil and coolant level. Electrical connections,
viz.
ignition coil to distributor, battery terminals, and wiper motor connections. Air
cleaner
fitment, radiator hoses &clamp tightening, fuel hoses clamping, radiator mtg. bolt
fitments,
clutch cable connection, accelerator pedal play &choke cable play are checked.
Final-Cabin: All lamps viz. head lamp high/low, parking lamp, cabin lamp, wiper
water
spray, reverse lamp, ac cooling, blower etc. are checked here.
Mirror view, clutch pedal play and brake pedal play & operation of parking
levers are checked here. Steering shaft column and shaft nuts and bolts are
tightened.
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Final-pit: The vehicle is checked for brake oil leakage, coolant leakage, fuel
leakage etc.
And these are marked OK on the check sheet.
Final-side body: All door fitments checked. Spare wheel fitment and rear seat
fitments are
checked. Seat adjustments are checked.
The vehicle is said to be AB-OK now. It is sent to vehicle inspection dept.
The assembly check sheet is removed. A new check sheet is added to vehicle carrying
ABOK stamps. The vehicle is called FC-ON i.e. final check on.

 Work-pieces are held together under pressure exerted by electrodes. Typically the
sheets are in the 0.5 to 3 mm (0.020 to 0.118 in) thickness range.
 The process uses two shaped copper alloy electrodes to concentrate welding
current
into a small "spot" and to simultaneously clamp the sheets together.
 Forcing a large current through the spot will melt the metal and form the weld.
The
attractive feature of spot welding is that a lot of energy can be delivered to the
spot in
a very short time (approximately 10 - 100 milliseconds).

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 That permits the welding to occur without excessive heating of the remainder of
the
sheet.
 The amount of heat (energy) delivered to the spot is determined by the resistance
between the electrodes and the magnitude and duration of the current.
 The amount of energy is chosen to match the sheet's material properties, its
thickness,
and type of electrodes.
 Applying too little energy will not melt the metal or will make a poor weld.
Applying
too much energy will melt too much metal, eject molten material, and make a hole
rather than a weld.
 Another feature of spot welding is that the energy delivered to the spot can be
controlled to produce reliable welds.

Weld spatter occurs when small liquid molten metal particles are expelled from the
surface of the materials while welding, due to pressure and heat.

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WHY WE NEED TO CONTROL SPATTER ? ??
Deterioration of quality due to metal dust and burrs caused by spatter
Spatter can leave marks and also makes spots weak which degrades quality of
production.
Damage of costly PLS , Limit switches , and other sensors in automation line.
Lots of high cost equipments are installed in automation line,spatter can hinder in
the
working of these instruments and in extreme case can lead to failure of these
instruments also.
Increased down time due breakdowns related to LS & Sensor damage
For company like MSIL ,completing their production targets in time is most
important
requirement, but spatter can lead to breakdown ,so it is importa nt to control
spatter.
Health and safety implications for employees
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For MSIL safety comes first and for this we need to control spatter as it can harm
eyes
and skin .
Higher electrical power usage
Spatter can be because of wrong parameters like current. Generating more current on
spot
then required means improper usage of costly resources.

Facto rs Co nt ri bute to we l d s patte r!!

Tip alignment and mismatch problem
One of the most common factor that contributes to spatter, mismatch of tip of guns
i.e
movable and stationary gun.
Abnormal Zero touchup
Absence of zero touch between body to be welded and stationary gun can make way for
spatter because of air gap.
Abnormal dressing condition
Improper dressing or grinding can also produce spatter beca use it leads to
improper dressing
tip.
Abnormal gun pressure and welding current.
Too low gun pressure or to high current contributes to spatter.
Improper location of weld spot
Another factor that contributes due to incorrect location of weld spot ,which can
be because
of overlapping of spots etc.

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28 | P a g e
1st Step is collect initial data, follow these steps:
a. Collect the data at standard condition

 Use standard format for this purpose.

2nd Step is Tip alignment & matching

 Checking and correction of
 Shank alignment
 Cap Tip alignment
 Tip matching
* Tip alignment and matching to be done in new tip, after dressing
* If wear down value is NG then gun mastering to be done

3rd Step is Welding Current & pressure calibration

 Checking of welding current output vs Input ( by weld checker & Turn ratio
setting)
 Pressure calibration (by pressure checker )

4th Step is Dresser Check

 Dresser mounting check
 Dresser cutter and holder condition check
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 Air blow and cutter rotation direction check
Tip condition after Tip Dressing

5th Step is Zero touch up

 Checking and correction of
- Zero touch up with body surface

6th Step is pressure setting correction

 Checking and correction of
- Weld pressure as per standard

7th Step is Dressing time and dressing frequency setting

 Checking and correction of
- Dressing frequency
- Dressing time
Other than the above procedures following factors also affect the
welding condition:

 Excessive dust on the welding surface

 Gap and mismatch of comp. in jigs
 Vibrations in Servo gun & Robot

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Reduced power consumption

Better weld quality and less rework

Reduced maintenance costs

Safer and cleaner environment

Lower consumable costs

Increased production up-time

The aim of the project is to reduce spatter and improve welding

process. Spatter free weld shop was motto of this project.
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A team was formed including expertise, line supervisor,summer
trainee. A proper checksheet was designed to record daily spatter
data. The project started with aim of reducing spatter in YL8 line
.During initial data collection spatter percentage was found out to be
42% which was way above acceptable level.
A proper procedure to control spatter was followed as discussed
above and the results obtained were commendable. The spatter
percentage of Left side body was reduced from 40% to 5% .
45

S
p
a
t
t
e
r
%

40

40 YL8 Ertiga

- LH Side body Spatter

control progress

35

30
25

22

20
15

10
5

W1 Jan 14 W2 Jan 14 W3 Jan 14 W4 Jan 14

Period

A view of spatter control checksheet can be seen below which is

updated for each and every robot in welding shop and stepwise
sequence was followed to achieve desired results.
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And now after 4 months the current spatter and the difference that
has been made can be seen in below bar graph:

YL8 LINE SPATTER STATUS AS ON 28.04.2014

S
P
A
T
T
E
R

40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

YL8 Line Feb'14

YL8 Line Mar'14
YL8 Line Apr'14

33 | P a g e
A standardized process for recording data was formulated which
includes summary sheet of a particular area, supervisor check sheet,
monthly data graph which is updated on regular basis. It helps us to
analyze spatter data of a particular area and decide next course of
action. Given below are the examples of data collection sheets to give
the insight of how things work.
 Monthly Spatter status update sheet which give us the monthly
spatter status.

YL8 LSB Line Spatter Status

45
S
P
A
T
T
E
R

40

40

35
30
25
20

15
10

6.6

5
0

Jan'14

Feb'14

March'14

April'14

Period

 Individual robot wise check sheet updated on regular basis to

know the current spatter status of particular robot.(Supervisor
check sheet.)

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 Area wise Summary sheet updated on regular basis :

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TRAINING MODULE FOR SPATTER REDUCTION

MOS Z was developed for zero touch up training during spatter reduction activities.

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Zero touch up and dressing training module was made for line superviser and
workers.

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38 | P a g e
39 | P a g e
Below is the step by step instruction for Fanuc robot to conduct zero touch up
procedure.

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WELD INFORMATION CONTROL SYSTEM

INTRODUCTION

As we know, the spots of a car are the most précised work done on a car as their
failure can
cause accident. So, the company prefers to check the spots of car as it directly
refer us to the
company quality. But, it was not possible for the company to check the spots of
every car as
it was a very time consumable process as the processes done to check the spots were
hammering test and peeling test. Till now, Maruti Suzuki India Limited was checking
the
spots of every export car and every 10 th import car. But this does not give
assurance to the
customer for the best quality car as there was no tool for analysis of weld spot
quality. So,
there was a need to implement a method which would help the company in providing
the best
quality car. Due to this reason, weld information control system came to being in
use.

WELD INFORMATION CONTROL SYSTEM

Weld information control system is a non-destructive testing technique to check the

spots. In
this technique, a spot id is given to every spot of the car. The data’s of welding
parameters
are noted. These data have been fed to the PLC (programmable logic controller). IT
department has implemented a server which would be directly linked with the PLC.
PLC
provides a graphical characteristic of every spot in computer screen with the help
of server
from which we could ensure defective spots on line. Also, the robot line would stop
in which
problem has occurred i.e. if the spots does not have the same characteristics as
provided to
the PLC, the robot would stop working itself and show faults on computer screen. So
that, we
can correct the spot by taking counter measure. Also, this technique will help us
in having a
control on NG welding flow.

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NG Welding Flow

NG welding flow occurs at a point where the robot is not able to weld the spot
correctly i.e.
the weld does not took properly due to following reasons:a) Spatter control
b) Spot Miss
c) Gun alignment NG
d) Tip / Tip Dressing NG
e) Half spot
f) Spot out of position
g) Gun shunting
h) Part deformation (part mismatch)

W.I.C.S. FUNCTIONALITY
 Prevents NG Welding Flow
 Accurate Detection of Faults
a) Spatter control
b) Spot Miss
c) Gun alignment NG
d) Tip / Tip Dressing NG
e) Half spot
f) Spot out of position
g) Gun shunting
h) Part deformation (part mismatch)
 Analysis of every weld spot
 Storage of weld spot parameters (upto 10 years)

42 | P a g e
W.I.C.S. METHODOLOGY

The methodology on which W.I.C.S. depends is to study about the resistance waves as
the
reason for the spot failure could be known by this methodology.

RESISTANCE WAVES
Resistance waves are the graphical representation between resistance values and the
weld
time to show that the nugget formed is absolutely correct.

Fig. 3.2. Principle of Resistance Waves

As we can see from the above figure 3.2, the resistance value first decreases but
as the temp.
of base metal is raised the resistance value climb up and form a nugget and as the
nugget
expansion takes place with the increase in electrical path, the resistance value
again decline.

43 | P a g e
BENEFITS FOR OBSERVING RESISTANCE WAVES


Resistance wave profile is full spot welding, white body check.

Detect the abnormal conditions early.

Prevent NG Welding Flow.

RESULTS OBTAINED BY OBSERVING RESISTANCE WAVES

By observing the resistance waves, we could get to know the various methods because
of
which the NG Welding Flow occurs.
1. Fault due to get out of parts position.

Fig. 3.3. Fault seen due to get out of parts position

44 | P a g e
From the above fig. 3.3, we can clearly see that the nugget formation takes place
at any other
position than required.

2. Fault due to bend parts.

Fig. 3.4. Fault seen due to bend parts

From the above fig. 3.4, we can clearly see that the nugget formation does not took
place
correctly as the parts in which the spot was to be applied was bent.

45 | P a g e
3. Fault due to get out of position.

Fig. 3.5. Fault due to get out of position seen

From the above fig. 3.5, we can clearly see that the nugget formation was formed
slightly
side from its position due to which spot was not formed as required.

46 | P a g e
FAULTS RELATED TO RESISTANCE WAVES


E79 Resist wave fault

Fault occurs due to low quantity of heat, Tip diameter expansion, Lack or 2sets of
work, Shift
of weld position, Gun touch, terrible expulsion etc.

Fig. 3.6. Fault of E79 resistance waves

-Reset possible at reset box

-Be cautious that when same control no. and same condition has been used
continuously,
judgment will not be done.
NG body don’t stop, even if no check and reset.
When you returns weld points before more than 1 weld point by manual operation and
you
re-welded the weld points, it is possibility existence to stop by fault again.


E85 Wave Resist Frequent

Fault occurs due to tip dress, etc.

-Timers output “E85”, when weld points more than thresholds of a warning level
occurred
frequently in res. decrease width or aver. res.
-Reset possible in reset box


E80 High Resistance

Faults occur due to dust between the tip, power cable break etc.

47 | P a g e
Fig. 3.7. Fault of E80 high resistance waves

-Timers output “E80” when it detect resistance value ahead of a threshold of high
resistance
and it doesn’t send weld current according to the setting value.
-Discontinue the power supply at the detection of the fault
- Measures are the basically same as low current fault.
- We can reset the fault at a reset box, but it occurs again till the fault state
is removed

GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF RESISTANCE WAVES

Fig. 3.8, shows the graphical representation of resistance values at the time of
welding.

48 | P a g e
Fig. 3.8. Graphical representation of resistance values

This representation shows us the difference in the resistance decreasing width.

This is shown
by the line arrays of red, yellow and blue colour in above fig.

METHOD FOR OBSERVING RESISTANCE WAVEFORM

To measure the transition of resistance value in every 0.5 cycle in welding, we

have to
calculate the parameter 1 to 4 and supervise them. The parameter to be calculated
are as
follows:1. Resistance width decrease: - Max. resistance value – final resistance
value
2. Average resistance value:- Average of resistance value between 2.5cyc and weld
time
(setting time) -0.5cyc
3. 3.Max resistance value:- Max value between setting time and weld time (setting
time)
-1.5cyc
4. Final resistance value:- Resistance Value of weld time (setting time) -0.5cyc
49 | P a g e
Fig. 3.9 Resistance waveform
SETTING OF RESISTANCE LIMIT

Resistance limits refers us to a position after which alarm would rang. Resistance
limits are
classified in two levels: -

1. Alarm Level: - When the nugget formation does not take properly, limit of alarm
level
is reached and the alarm rang so that the worker or engineer could take the counter
measure.
2. Fault level: - When the engineer or worker does not take counter measure after
the
alarm, then the line would automatically spot.

50 | P a g e
PROBLEMS OCCURING IN OBSERVATION


There is a case when there is not a change of resistance. In this case, only the
thin
sheet side is weld NG on sheet combination such as thin- thick-thick sheets and in
the
case of sheet combination of thin-thin sheets. Therefore, there is the case that NG
points cannot stop.

Whether fault stops or not depend on a limit setting. Misjudgment occur a lot of
times, when limit setting is too rigorous. But it cannot detect weld NG, when limit
setting is too indulgent.

Now, we set limits from average and unevenness of the present data which WICS
system collect.

51 | P a g e
WELD SPOT CHECKING PROCESS STANDARDIZATION

Maruti Operation Standard Inspection

MOS I is known as Maruti Operation Standard Inspection sheet in which a list of all
the spots
are made and their robots are mentioned which apply these spots. Cycles are divided
according to the application of spots. This sheet has a full spot detail of a car
and the copy of
every sheet is listed in the file on the line so that any engineer could go on the
line and with
this sheet could know about the inspection of this spot. The sheet is divided
according to
main body, main body pit, white body, cowl box, etc. and their cycles.

DESCRIPTION OF MOS I


The first thing that an engineer should know in welding department is the layout of
department.

He should know that which robot is working on which car.

He should know which spots can be checked and which cannot be checked.

He should know how many men are needed for checking the spots in a given
component.

For this, MOS I has been made so that the engineer have a list of all the spots
being
implemented on the components of the car.

OBJECTIVES OF MOS I

1. To mark the spots with different colours of different robots working on the
component.
2. To mark the G.A. spots and Maru - A spots of the component.
3. To mark the cycle so that we could know how many men are needed for checking the
spots? No. of cycles is equal to no. of men needed to check the spots.

52 | P a g e
4. To know how many robots are doing welding in a given component and how many
spots are there in the given component.

METHODOLOGY ADOPTED


A MOS I sheet was made in which the picture of component with the spots was
printed.

The robots which are applying those spots in a given component were noted down
along with their spots.

Maru- A spots and G.A. spots were seen and marked on it.

The men working on a given component to check the spots were noted and cycles
were made according to their work.

Modified MOS I of Main body checked at white body area

53 | P a g e
CONCLUSIONS


Easy for engineer to trace back the broken spot robot

Easy to find out the component details with the help of index.

54 | P a g e
PARAMETER DETERMINATION

Parameters such as tip pressure, weld current, squeeze time and weld time affects
weld
quality and expulsions. Low pressure, high current and weld time were found to be
main
reasons for weld expulsions.

METHODOLOGY
Stage 1 - calculating pressure at particular current, time, hold time, sheet
thickness ratio,
material
stage 2 - determining current and weld time combination through lobe diagram
stage 3 - verifying by peel test nugget size,depth, shear strength
stage 4 - spot sample

PRESSURE CALCULATION
Expulsion in welding is determined by many factors involving electrical, thermal,
metallurgical, and mechanical processes.
Although there are many complicated causes of expulsion, its basic process can be
described
by the interaction between the forces from the liquid nugget and its surrounding
solid
containment. Major forces acting on a weldment during welding are illustrated in
Fig. 3.
They include the squeezing force provided by the electrodes (FE,applied) and the
force from
the liquid nugget (FN) onto its solid containment, which is generated by the
pressure (P) in
the molten metal and a compressive force between the workpieces. There is also a
resistance
to sheet separation provided by solid diffusion (corona bonding) at the faying
interface. This
force is usually much smaller than the others and can be neglected in the analysis,
as this
model considers extreme expulsion conditions only.
Expulsion occurs when the force from the liquid nugget (FN) onto the solid
containment
equals or exceeds the effective electrode force (FE), i.e., FN≥ FE.
In practice, the applied electrode force is rarely collinear with the total force
from the liquid
nugget because of complications in electrode geometry such as wearing, electrode
alignment,
and part fitup. Therefore, the applied electrode force, in many cases, is not the
same as the
one used to contain the liquid nugget from expulsion. The “effective” electrode
force is
introduced in this situation to accurately represent the force used to suppress the
force from
the liquid nugget.
EVALUATION OF EFFECTIVE ELECTRODE FORCE
An effective electrode force, which is usually a portion of the total applied
electrode force, is
used to balance the force from the liquid nugget.
55 | P a g e
An offset between the applied electrode force and that from the
nugget, which is created by an angular misalignment of electrodes.
FE,applied is the applied electrode force, FN is the total force from the liquid
nugget against the
solid containment, and Fx is a force imposed by the other workpiece. FE is the
effective
electrode force, which will be explained in the following. In Fig. 5, d is the
distance between
the total nugget force and the electrode force; r is the distance between FN and
the edge of the
nugget (it is the radius in the case of a round weld); x is the distance between
force Fx and
FE,applied. Moment equilibrium with respect to the acting point of Fx produces the
following
relationship between FE,applied and FN :
FE,applied x = FN (d + X)

56 | P a g e
Schematic diagram of simplified forces and their locations on one
workpiece at expulsion.

Before metal melts, x = 0 because FN = 0, and FE,applied and Fx have to be

collinear. As the
liquid nugget grows, FN gets larger (FN is proportional to the area of the nugget
at the faying
surface) so Fx gets smaller because Fx + FN = FE,applied assuming FE,applied =
constant.
Meanwhile, x goes up as can be derived from a moment equilibrium with respect to
the
acting point of FE,applied: FN d = Fx x when assuming d = constant. Because the
magnitude of
FN increases and that of Fx goes down, x has to get larger, or Fx gets farther away
from the
center of the nugget during nugget growth. It is reasonable to assume that when Fx
moves
across the right edge of the nugget (Point A), the solid loses its containment of
the nugget.
Therefore, x = r – d can be regarded as a critical condition for expulsion to
happen.
Expulsion condition : FE = (r – d)/r * FE,applied
The discrepancy d is usually created by asymmetric loading, such as in the case of
electrode
misalignment (axial and angular misalignments), electrode wear, or improper
workpiece
fitup. It can be approximated by the distance between the geometric center of the
indentation
marks and that of the nugget. The force provided by the electrodes is fully used
against the
nugget force such that d = 0 and FE = FE,applied. Figure 6 shows a case with
angular
misaligned electrodes. The nugget forms around the shortest electrical current
path, which is
not the same as where the total electrode force is applied because of the angular
misalignment. As a result, an offset d is created between the applied electrode
force and the
force from the nugget. The location of the applied electrode force is estimated
from the
surface indentation and the nugget force is at the geometric center of the nugget.
A guideline for selecting an electrode force/welding schedule can be obtained by
estimating
the conditions of extreme cases. The force from the liquid nugget can be calculated
with the
knowledge of its size and pressure.

57 | P a g e
Forces acting on the weldment during resistance spot
welding in idealized
conditions with aligned electrodes and perfect fitup.

Schematic diagram of the balance of forces considered in the

model.
FN is the force from the nugget due to liquid pressure and FE is the
effective
electrode force.

PRESSURE AND FORCES IN LIQUID NUGGET

A volume increase occurs during heating in the solid state, solid to liquid phase
transformation, and heating in the liquid state. The volume change due to melting
happens at
the melting point for pure metals and between solidus and liquidus temperatures for
alloys
(except eutectic alloys). However, a free volume expansion of the nugget during
resistance
spot welding is not possible due to its surrounding solid containment and the
squeezing of
electrodes. As a result, pressure in the nugget may be significant because of the
relatively low
compressibility of liquids. Another source of pressure in the liquid nugget is the
pressure of
metal vapors. Such pressure exists because at temperatures above the melting point,
a closed
system tends to reach liquid/vapor equilibrium according to general thermodynamic
principles. In addition to metal vapor pressure, pressure from gases resulting from
thermal
decomposition of surface agents should also be considered. Examples of surface
agents are
lubricants on metal sheets, pretreatment agents, adhesives (in the case of weld-
bonding), and

58 | P a g e
adsorbed moisture or gases. The pressure can be evaluated by considering the type
and
amount of gaseous products, and their reactivity with, and solubility in, the
liquid alloy.
So there are four major components of pressure in a liquid metal during resistance
spot
welding: solid to liquid phase transformation (melting), expansion in the liquid
state, vapors
from the liquid metal, and decomposition of surface agents.
P = Pmelt + Pexp + Pvapor + Pdecomp
PRESSURE DUE TO MELTING
As the result of melting a certain portion of the metal surrounded by the solid
phase,
compression of the liquid takes place. The relationship between the volume V and
pressure P
in the liquid nugget at a given absolute temperature T can be described by the
coefficient of
compressibility 
 V/ P)T*1/ V

Therefore, for a small increment of volume, the resulting increase in pressure is

d P = d V*1/ V
Since the molten metal is not allowed to expand freely due to the containment of
its solid
surrounding and electrode forces, the increase in pressure resulting from melting
is
approximately the same as that from compressing the liquid metal from VL to VS .
This
pressure can be obtained by integrating where VS and VL are molar volumes of solid
and
liquid states, respectively, at the melting temperature. Therefore, the pressure
due to melting
is
Pmelt = 1/ ln( VL/ VS )
So a high volume change during melting results in a high pressure contribution.
PRESSURE CHANGE DUE TO LIQUID EXPANSION
A quantitative relationship between pressure and temperature under a constant
volume can be
described by thermal pressure coefficient 
 = 1/P( P/  T)v
Its value is unknown for most liquid metals. However, the partial derivative of
∂P/∂T may be
presented as the product of two partial derivatives:
(∂P/∂T)v = - (∂V/∂T)p (∂P/∂V)v
By introducing a coefficient of volume thermal expansion, 
 = 1/V(∂V/∂T)r
and using compressibility coefficient  ,  can be expressed by variables whose
values can be
found in published metallurgical data sources:
 = (1/P)(/

59 | P a g e
Hence, for a small increment of temperature, the increase in pressure is: D
dP = (/dT
Integraing the above yields the contribution of pressure due to the expansion of
the liquid
nugget in the range from melting point Tm to a given temperature T at a constant
volume in
the following form: de
Pexp = (/(T – Tmelt )
Because the contributions of vapor and surface agents to the total pressure are
usually small,
they can be neglected in estimating liquid pressure and force from the nugget.
Therefore
P = 1/ ln( VL/ VS ) + (/(Tavg – Tmelt )
PROCEDURE FOLLOWED IN PRESSURE CALCULATIONS
• Obtain material properties of the main alloying elements and surface
contaminants.
• Obtain information of temperature distribution and value, and dimensions of the
nugget.
• Calculate pressure components and the total pressure.
• Calculate forces in the directions of interest

CURRENT AND WELD TIME DETERMINATION

Weldability range (lobe) is the area where acceptable welds can be produced using a
specific
combination of welding current and weld time. Welding range is limited by the
minimum
acceptable weld size and splash limit. In spot welding, weldability range is
usually defined
using coordinate axes where weld time is located on one axis and welding current on
the
other. The electrode force used, electrode geometry and cleanness, and the
consistency and
thickness of the welded material affect the shape and size of the weldability
range. Materials with good welding properties have a large weldability range, which
means
that welding parameters can be selected from a great number of different
combinations. Cold
rolled metal sheets usually have a large weldability range. Welding current can
vary from
1.0–2.0.kA in common weld times. The alloying of the steel and thick zinc coating,
in
particular, may decrease the weldability range. In this case, the correct use of
appropriate welding parameters is very important in terms of producing good spot
welds.
For a given combination of materials, electrodes, process conditions, and at a
particular
electrode-force, the weld lobe describes a region of acceptable welding parameters.
The parameter axes are generally weld time (duration) & weld current. The "lower"
boundary
is the parameter combination that produces a weld button of minimum acceptable
dimensions. The "upper" boundary is defined by expulsion conditions. Expulsion is a
probabilistic event, so one way to define the limit is to find the conditions that
lead to (say)
50% of welds expelling. The area inside the lobe represents the "safe" welding
window for
new electrodes. Generally the wider the better.

60 | P a g e
61 | P a g e
CONSRUCTION OF LOBE CURVES

1. First you decide what is Cold, Hot, and OK. I use: Cold = undersize weld button
when the
coupon is peeled apart, OK = greater than minimum acceptable size. Hot = expulsion
occurred during the weld.
2. Select the proper tips, that have a contact size of at least the minimum button
size required.
3. Then setup the proper force for the job.
4. Next you condition the tips with 25 welds, this is very important for coated
materials.
5. Make a weld in a small coupon, record the current with an accurate weld current
meter,
along with the cycle time.
6. Peel the coupon apart, measure button size, length plus width, and divide by
two. (Length
and width are at a 90 degree axis)
7. Classify the weld, OK, Hot, or Cold. Note, if you got expulsion, it is Hot,
don’t bother to
peel it.
8. Enter the weld current under the appropriate column, there are four columns for
OK, three
for Cold, and three for Hot, use whatever one you want.
9. Continue with different current levels
10. Then change cycle time to 4 cycles, and entered 7 more welds.
11. Then 6 cycles, then 7 cycles, then 3 cycles.
As we fill in the area on the left, a chart is constructed on the right, that is
our weld lobe. The
spreadsheet also finds which cycle time gave the widest acceptable current range,
and
announces that is the cycle time to use, along with a current that is about 10%
below the
expulsion level.

62 | P a g e
Weld lobe data collection

63 | P a g e
Electrode force = 200kgf/cm2

Elecrode force = 250 kgf/cm2

Elecrode force = 300 kgf/cm2

64 | P a g e
SQUEEZE TIME SETTING

Figure 2 shows how the weld time can be started at different times relating to the
force cycle. In the middle example, the welding current comes on too early and the
squeeze time is too short to allow sufficient force to build up between components
to produce a satisfactory weld. Many welding defects can be attributed to welding
with too short a squeeze time.

Examples of different squeeze times in resistance welding

The lower example shows a welding cycle where the current is applied late and the
peak
force has been established for some time. Although acceptable welds may result from
this
sequence, time is wasted unnecessarily, and in volume production this can add
significant
costs.

65 | P a g e
In the top figure, the squeeze time is adjusted so that the current is initiated
just before the
peak welding force is achieved. This produces the best quality weld at the highest
production
rate.
Modern programming systems for spot welding equipment enable the welding force
current
value and the relevant time sequence to be programmed. On closer inspection the
programmed sequence actually performed by the welding gun may differ from the
intended
welding cycle. This is because of delays in the control system due to mechanical
inertia,
performance of the pneumatic force cylinder and other mechanical losses which
modify the
intended time sequence. It is essential to calibrate not only the forge force and
the welding
current but also to set the squeeze time correctly.
The key forces are displayed on an illuminated bar on the Squeeze Analyser, shown
schematically in figure 2. Short squeeze times are indicated by a large gap between
the
squeeze force and the peak force. Long squeeze times result in the squeeze force
and the peak
force being identical so that no gap in the illuminated bar occurs. Ideal squeeze
times show as
a small gap (one unlit light emitting diode) between squeeze and peak force. The
simple
visual display of the Squeeze Analyser enables the supervisor quickly to assess the
operating
values of a spot welding installation. In practice, it takes minutes to calibrate a
gun correctly
for optimum operating conditions. The actual values of the forces are also
indicated on the
front panel display.
PNUEMATIC VS SERVO GUN
Pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders actuate most spot welding guns. The electrodes
move the
entire range of the cylinder when the gun opens and closes. Clamping force is
normally fixed
by a pressure regulator, and there is usually no means to provide feedback
regarding the
actual clamping pressure. The motor-controlled servo gun provides variable
electrode
openings and programmable regulated pressure.
Pneumatic guns often have two cylinders; one is used for short open and the other
creates a
full open space between electrodes. The servo gun (in position control) provides
programmable electrode opening anywhere between the full stroke of the gun. The
electrode
opening can be programmed to move simultaneously with other axes of the robot.
Application flexibility cycle time savings are realized by the servo- gun's ability
to open the
electrodes only a short distance, or a larger amount, to provide the exact
clearance needed
around tooling or parts.
During the weld, the servomotor switches to torque control and provides a uniform
calibrated
clamping force. This is easily programmed in the robot control and is expressed as
a unit of
force. The force can be stepped during an individual weld cycle or varied from weld
to weld
for different material thickness stack-ups.
Pneumatic guns close at full clamping force, which creates high impact on the tips.
The
servo gun controls the rate at which the electrodes close and ramps up to the
clamping force.
This controlled process extends the life of tips and is a major reason auto
manufacturers have
been using them. The controlled clamp force also improves quality and cosmetics,
allowing
welds to be made on Class A surfaces

66 | P a g e
Hence squeeze time for pneumatic guns is set to 3-4 cycle whereas squeeze time for
servo
guns can be set to 0 as weld trigger is given only after the application of tip
force.

SHEAR STRENGTH CALCULATION

The shear strength of a single spot weld can be calculated
as follows:
Shear strength(N)= 2.6 • t • d • Rm
where:
t = sheet thickness, mm
d = weld diameter, mm
Rm = tensile strength of the material, MPa

PEEL TEST
This test is conducted to determine nugget size and depth to ascertain the quality
of spot
weld.

67 | P a g e
Chisel test is conducted to check if spots are not broken

SPOT SAMPLE
For final verification spot samples were taken and their shear strength calculated
by tensileshear testing machine in R&D lab.

Spot sample jig

68 | P a g e
Spot sample : 0.8-1.2mm sheet combination, current = 6.5, weld time = 15, pressure
= 200

Spot sample : 1.2-1.2mm sheet combination, current = 6.5, weld time = 18, pressure
= 250

Spot sample : 1.4-1.2mm sheet combination, current = 6.5, weld time = 20, pressure
= 300

69 | P a g e
AUTOMATIC DETECTION SYSTEM
There was a consistent problem of tip mis-alignment, improper face cutting and
dresser not
rotating. As a result these problems were regularly checked by the maintenance and
quality
department personnel. There was an urgent need to automate this process to avoid
any
possibility of degradation in spot quality due to tip mis-alignment and face
cutting.
TIP ALIGNMENT DETECTION
CONTRUCTION AND WORKING
This device consists of a mild steel strip of dimension 30 X 100 resting on cast
iron rods.
There is a pressure sensor below one of the rod. During tip dressing the tips will
exert a
vertical force in opposite direction on the plate. Any misalignment will cause a
moment in the
plate which in turn would increase or decrease the force exerted by the rod on the
pressure
sensor.
Tip separated by x
Mild steel strip
Mx
Cast iron hollow rods
Force sensor
F
R
a

R
b

70 | P a g e
TIP FORCE DETERMINATION
Usually for steel design, the yield strength is used with a factor of safety, or,
alternatively, a
load factor is applied to the design load, and bending stresses must not exceed the
yield stress.
The bending stiffness is equal to the product of the elastic modulus E and the area
moment of
inertia I of the beam cross-section about the axis of interest. In other words, the
bending
stiffness is EI . According to elementary beam theory, the relationship between the
applied
bending moment M and the resulting curvature K of the beam is
M = EIK
The flexure of the plate depends on:
1. The plate thickness
2. The elastic properties of the plate
3. The applied load or force
As flexural rigidity of the plate is determined by the Young's modulus, Poisson's
ratio and
cube of the plate's elastic thickness, it is a governing factor in both (1) and
(2).
Flexural Rigidity,
D = (Ehe3 )/12(1 – v2 )
E = Young's Modulus
he = elastic thickness (~10–15 km)
v = Poisson's Ratio
Flexural rigidity of a plate has units of Pa·m3 , i.e. one dimension of length less
from the one
for the rod, as it refers to the moment per unit length per unit of curvature, and
not the total
moment. I is termed as moment of inertia.J is denoted as 2nd moment of
inertia/polar
moment of inertia
Factor of safety for mild steel = 3
Bending stress b = (MY)/I
Where M(X) = Bending Moment at X
Y = Maximum distance from the neutral axis
Ix = second moment of area = (bh3 )/12 = 6.86* 10-12
Sheet thickness = 1.4, length = 100 mm, breadth = 30 mm
x = Maximum distance between misaligned weld tips in X direction = 15 mm = 1.5*10-2
Bending moment ,M(Nm) = F(50) – F(50 + X)
Y = 1.4/2 = 0.7 mm = 7* 10-4 m
Maximum bending stress will be at the bottom most point.
b = (Fx*7* 10-4 )/I
=( F*1.5*10-2 *7* 10-4 )/( 6.86* 10-12 )
F = b /1.53*106
71 | P a g e
Bending stress has to be less than allowable tensile stress
Allowable tensile stress = Young’s modulus(E)/FOS
E for mild steel = 420 Mpa
Allowable stress , t = 420/3 = 140 Mpa
F = 140*106 /1.53*106
= 93 N

MISALIGNMENT CALIBRATION
Mx = 0
0 = 50(1500) – 1500(50+X) – RB(100)
RB = 15x
RB can be determined from the load cell reading. Accordingly x is calculated to
determine the
degree of misalignment.
Tips can be adjusted using L keys. 5 full rotation moves the tip 1mm towards the
fixed tip.
FACE CUTTING DETECTION
Proper dressing is required to bring the tip diameter to the required level. This
is necessary so
that the required current density is maintained. It is also necessary to remove any
carbon
deposits that may obstruct the flow of current during welding.
The device consists of component locating pin which is paced at the top of the
metal strip.
The Robot gun travels a certain perpendicular distance from a datum until the gun
tip touches
the locating pin. The distance is recorded to determine whether there is any hole
at the tip
centre due to improper dressing.
To check the tip diameter after dressing the tip is made to exert certain force
over the gauge
pressure sensor. If the tip diameter is less pressure exerted would be high and
hence improper
dressing would be detected.

X
Datum
line

Locating
pin

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The material used is cast iron. Since the minimum force detectable from the load
cell is very
less available cone with tip diameter 1.5 mm is feasible. The compressive stress
developed
would be very less.
ROBOT PROGRAMMING
Tip dressing programm was modified in accordance with the sensor requirement. For
e.g.
programm was made for the additional path robot follows after dressing, giving
different
pressure schedule during testing and logic was given to check the conditions for
proper
process in macro module.

1: !*** 371A TIP DRESS *** ;

2: ;
3: UTOOL_NUM = 1 ;
4: UFRAME_NUM = 0 ;
5: $USEUFRAME = 0 ;
6: PAYLOAD[1] ;
7: ;
8: !*** IO_RESET *** ;
9: CALL IO_RESET ;
10: ;
11: !*** AROUND HOME POSITION
*** ;
12:L PR[2] 2000mm/sec FINE ;
13: ;
14: Reset Tip Wdn ;
15: ;
16: LBL[1] ;
17: R[17] = 0 ;
18: DO[213] = ON ;
19: ;
20:L P[3] 2000mm/sec FINE ;
21: ;
22: !*** BEFORE DRESS POSITION
*** ;
23:L P[4] 2000mm/sec FINE ;
24: ;
25: DO[221] = ON ;
26: R[99] = $MCR.$GENOVERRIDE ;
27: OVERRIDE = 100% ;
28: ;
29: !*** DRESS POSITION *** ;
30:L P[5] 200mm/sec FINE
PRESS_MOTION P=[99,89] ;
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31: ;
32: WAIT 0.50(sec) ;
33: WAIT DI[203] = ON ;
34: ;
35: !*** BEFORE DRESS POSITION
*** ;
36:L P[4] 300mm/sec CNT0 ;
37: ;
38: DO[221] = OFF ;
39: DO[213] = OFF ;
41: ;
42:L P[3] 1000mm/sec CNT10 ;
43: ;
44: CALL TWD ;
45: ;
46:L P[3] 1000mm/sec CNT10 ;
47: ;
48: DO[210] = ON ;
49: ;
50: !*** Tip Change Request *** ;
51: IF DI[210] = ON,JMP LBL[10] ;
52: ;
54: ;
55: DO[210] = OFF ;
56: WAIT 0.50(sec) ;
57: ;
58: CALL WDN_CHK ;
59: ;
60:L PR[2] 2000mm/sec CNT100 ;
61: ;
62: CALL IO_RESET ;
63: ;
64: !*** HOME POSITION *** ;
65:L PR[1] 2000mm/sec FINE ;
66: ;
67: !*** IO_RESET *** ;
68: CALL IO_RESET ;
69: ;
70: IF R[17] = 1,JMP LBL[1] ;
71: ;
72: END ;
73: ;
74: LBL[10] ;
75: ;
76: ;
77: !*** Tip Change Position *** ;
78:L P[9] 2000mm/sec FINE ;
79: ;
80: Reset Tip Wdn ;
81: ;
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82: DO[64] = ON ;
83: WAIT DI[64] = ON ;
84: DO[64] = OFF ;
85: ;
86: ;
87: JMP LBL[1] ;
88:

RESULT

COST PER PIECE

Cost of mild steel strip = Rs 5
Cost of force sensor = Rs 400
Cost of 4 hollow rods = Rs 20
Cost of locating pins = Rs 90
Cost of pressure sensor = Rs 600
Total cost per piece = Rs 1105
EFFECT ON QUALITY AND PRODUCTIVITY
There would be a huge affect in quality aspects of the spot weld as tip
misalignment and
improper face cutting are the major reasons for defects such as spot pinning, spot
burr.
Chances of weld spatter will reduce which is a major factor for excessive tip wear
out.
Productivity will increase with the reduction in jig related breakdown such Limit
switch
fault, PLS fault , solenoid vacuum fault. The major contributor to such faults is
weld
expulsion.
Hence overall line efficiency = Total time – breakdown time would significantly
improve.
EFFECT OF SPATTER REDUCTION ACTIVITIES
Reduction in no. of spot burr cases per month = 1500
Cost of repairing spot burr defect = cost of tool = cost of sander wheel
Life of sander wheel = 40 spots
Reduction in cost of repairing = 1500/40*60 = Rs 2250

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CONCLUSION
Spatter reduction activities were a huge success. We reached our target of 5 % in 4
weld areas
in Ertiga line. Parameter determination for different sheet combination helped us
achieve the
required spot quality at low current and weld time.

REFERENCES
1. Expulsion Prediction in Resistance Spot Welding by J. SENKARA, H. ZHANG,
AND S. J. HU
2. Spot Weld Properties When Welding With Expulsion—A Comparative Study by M.
Kimchi
3. Ruukki-Resistance-welding- manual
4. Miller Handbook for Resistance Spot Welding
5. http://www.updatetechnology.com/

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