KATHMANDU UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

PROJECT PROPOSAL ON

DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF HANDHELD SPOT WELDING DEVICE

KRIPANANDA JHA (026098-19)

GAURAV ALE MAGAR (026090-19)

AASHISH RAI (026112-19)

SAXAM BHATTARAI (024254-18)

JULY 2022
 PROJECT EVALUATION

DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF HANDHELD SPOT-WELDING DEVICE

BY

KRIPANANDA JHA (026098-19)

GAURAV ALE MAGAR (026090-19)

AASHISH RAI (026112-19)

SAXAM BHATTARAI (024254-18)

This is to certify that I have examined the above Project proposal and have found that it is
complete and satisfactory in all respects and that any revisions required by
the thesis Examination committee has been made.

Prof. Dr. Bivek Baral, PhD

Project Supervisor

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 Date: 14/07/2022
To
The Project Supervisor,
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Kathmandu University

SUBJECT: Cover letter for proposal approval

Dear Sir,
Submitted for your review is our proposal entitled “DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF
HANDHELD SPOT-WELDING DEVICE” The report is submitted as a requirement of
course entitled Engineering Project MEEG 312. Within this document you will find the
basic introductions, objectives, methodology and expected outcome from the proposed
work (Listed in detail in the table of content section).
We hope for your keen review and future assistance in this work along with the approval.

Sincerely,

Kripanand Jha (026098-19)

Gaurav Ale Magar (026090-19)

Aashish Rai (026112-19)

Saxam Bhattarai (024254-18)

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. LIST OF FIGURES 4

2. LIST OF TABLES 5

3. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 6

4. LIST OF SYMBOLS 7

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background 1

1.1.1. Types of welding 2

1.2 Objectives 4

1.3 Significance 4

1.4 Limitations 4

CHAPTER 2 METHODOLOGY 5

2.1 Theoretical Framework 5

2.1. Spot Welding 5

2.2 Design 7

2.3 Gantt Chart 8

CHAPTER 3 BUDGET ESTIMATION 9

CHAPTER 4 EXPECTED OUTCOME 10

5. REFERENCES 11

4
 1. LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Handheld spot-welding device 1

Figure 2: Project methodology flowchart 5

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 2. LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Predicted spot weld strength 4

Table 2: Gantt chart showing working schedule 6
Table 3: Table showing budget estimation 7

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 3. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

RSW Resistance spot welding

NLNG Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas

TRIP Transformation Induced Plasticity

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 4. LIST OF SYMBOLS

Q25 First quartile [%]

Q 75 Third quartile [%]

α Outlier constant [unit

less]

Y Wield strength [newton

]

X1 Thickness [mm]

X2 Electrode force [newton

]

X3 Weld time [s]

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 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

Spot welding (or resistance spot welding[1]) is a type of electric resistance welding used to
weld various sheet metal products, through a process in which contacting metal surface
points are joined by the heat obtained from resistance to electric current.

Figure 1: Handheld spot-welding device

Two curved copper alloy electrodes are used in the procedure to bind the sheets together
while also concentrating welding current into a compact "spot." Electrodes apply pressure
to hold work pieces together. The sheets typically range in thickness from 0.020 to 0.118
inches, or 0.5 to 3 mm. The metal will melt and produce the weld when a strong current is
forced through the area. The advantage of spot welding is that a significant quantity of
energy may be given to the area in a few milliseconds (about 10-100)[2].

In the first of the three stages of spot welding, the electrodes are brought to the metal's
surface and a light pressure is applied. The electrodes are then momentarily exposed to
current before the current is withdrawn, leaving the electrodes in place to allow the
material to cool. Welding times range from 0.01 seconds to 0.63 seconds depending on the
metal thickness, the electrode force, and the electrodes diameter.

Tool holders and electrodes are the tools used in the spot-welding process. The tool
holders support optional water hoses that cool the electrodes during welding and act as a
mechanism to keep the electrodes firmly in position. A paddle-style, light-duty, universal,

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and conventional offset are a few different ways to hold a tool. Depending on the
application, the electrodes are often constructed of a low resistance alloy, typically copper,
and come in a variety of forms and sizes. The workpieces, which are the two materials
being welded together, must be electrically conductive. The throat length of the welding
apparatus sets a restriction on the workpieces' width, which normally spans from 5 to 50
inches (13 to 130 cm). The range of workpiece thicknesses is 0.008 to 1.25 inches (0.20 to
32 mm)[5].

1.1.1. Types of welding

● Stick Welding

Stick welding, also known as Arc welding, is doing it the old fashioned way. Stick
welding is a bit harder to master than MIG welding, but you can pick up a stick
welding equipment for very little if you want to have a go at home. Stick welding
uses a stick electrode welding rod.

● MIG welding

MIG welding is one of the easier types of welding for beginners to learn. MIG
welding is actually two different types of welding. The first uses bare wire and the
second flux core. Bare wire MIG welding can be used to join thin pieces of metal
together. Flux core MIG welding can be used outdoors because it does not require
a flow meter or gas supply. MIG welding is usually the welding of choice for DIY
enthusiasts and hobby welders who don’t have the money to spend on expensive
equipment.

● TIG welding

TIG welding is extremely versatile, but it is also one of the more difficult welding
techniques to learn and Lincoln Electric TIG welders are skilled individuals. Two
hands are needed for TIG welding. One hand feeds the rod whilst the other holds a
TIG torch. This torch creates the heat and arc, which are used to weld most
conventional metals, including aluminum, steel, nickel alloys, copper alloys, cobalt
and titanium.

TIG welders can be used to weld steel, stainless steel, chromoly, aluminum, nickel
alloys, magnesium, copper, brass, bronze, and even gold. TIG is a useful welding
process for bike frames, lawn mowers, door handles, fenders, and more.
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● Gas welding

Gas welding is rarely used anymore and has been largely superseded by TIG
welding. Gas welding kits require oxygen and acetylene and are very portable.
They are still sometimes used to weld bits of car exhaust back together. There is
currently a huge shortage of skilled welders in the US and the rest of the world, so
for young people who do decide to take up a career as a welding technician, the job
prospects are good.
● Spot welding

Spot welding (or resistance spot welding [1]) is a type of electric resistance welding
used to weld various sheet metal products, through a process in which contacting
metal surface points are joined by the heat obtained from resistance to electric
current. The resistance spot welding process has the advantages of high speed, high
production assembly line and suitability for automation. The features of this
process is that a lot of energy can be delivered to the spot in a very short time.
Bolting, riveting, soldering and arc welding all require some additional material to
be added to the metal being fastened together. Additionally, bolting and riveting
requires holes to be made into the metal for the rivets or bolts to fit. Resistance
welding requires neither additional material nor holes in the metal [8].

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1.2 Objectives

1.2.1 Primary Objectives

● To design and fabricate handheld spot-welding device.

1.2.2 Secondary objective

 To study different types of welding, perform spot welding on different metals.

1.3 Significance

● One of the most effective welding procedure to combine two or more metal sheets.
● The procedure is totally defined and readily applies to a lot of thin metals like
stainless steel, nickel alloys and titanium.
● Hand held welding can be used in small scale industries for good quality
production.
● Spot welding provides a much more efficient way of utilizing electrical energy for
the welding process.
● It is relatively cheap to operate and portable.

1.4 Limitations

● Class A step down transformer is difficult to find in the market.

● High pressure and high temperature for welding thicker parts together
● The project requires a constant preventive maintenance in shorter duration for
longer lifetime of the device

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 Chapter 2 METHODOLOGY

1.5 Theoretical Framework

In RSW, the application of heat and pressure results in coalescence. The heat is mostly
caused by the interface between the workpieces that must be linked being electrically
resistant to the flow of current in the circuit that the workpieces complete. It relies on the
Joule heating phenomenon, which produces heat energy by running an electric current
through the joint to be welded over a predetermined time. At the point where the two
pieces are to be united, the welding circuit's resistance should be at its highest and the heat
generated there must reach a high value capable of causing localized fusion under
pressure. The metal is melted by the heat and forms a nugget at the interface of the
workpieces.

The comprehension, prediction, and optimization of the resistance spot welding quality
characteristics have received a lot of research attention. Weld strength is proportional to
fused zone diameter, according to AI-analysis Mukhtar's of RSW for the processes
involved and typical failure scenarios (weld nugget)[3]. This suggests that a measurement
of the weld nugget sizes of failed samples can be used to estimate the weld strength in the
absence of the tools for testing the strength of welded members (the most popular being
the tensile tests). Direct strength testing, however, is preferable due to its higher accuracy.
The experimental findings of Raut and Achwal [4] demonstrated that the critical welding
parameters are electrode force, welding current, and time.

Zhou et al[5] systematic analysis of the impact of specimen sizes on spot weld strengths
and proposed essential values for real-world application. Their adopted critical length for
this study is 150mm. The writers also argued for the requirement of equality in the overlap
and workpiece width. This work follows this safety precaution. arc welding, the second-
order empirical modeling of shear considers welding time and welding force. galvanized
Transformation Induced Plasticity (TRIP) steel's tensile strength and indentation steel that
has been zinc-coated[6].

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1.5.1 Spot Welding

Workpiece thickness [mm], electrode force [N], and weld time [weld time level numbers
on the machine] are three predictors that can be combined in any legal way on the
prototype RSW machine seen in Figure 1. The machine has electrodes with a diameter of
roughly 1.2 cm. The specimens were all 150mm long, 36mm wide, and had a 36mm
overlap. They were of the following thicknesses: 0.8, 1.0, 1.2, 1.5, and 2.0mm.

Based on the confined central composite design, an experimental welding schedule can be
created and put into practice for the investigation. Statistical regression is used to create
empirical models for expressing the strength of spot welds in terms of the welding
parameters, using the measured responses as the goals and the designed experimental
coordinates as the predictors. Statistical error indices called goodness-of-fit indices are
used to measure how accurately forecasts match the targets. It's important to recognize and
handle outliers while creating experimental models. Outliers are identified in this context
as values that are outside the range.

[Q25−α ( Q75−Q 25) , Q 75+ α (Q 75−Q25)]

A fully quadratic polynomial model correlating the predictors and the responses
is developed via statistical regression. The model reads,
2
y=11931.09−5585.11 x 1−22.89 x 2+ 994.28 x 3 +19.40 x 1 x 2−1.22 x2 x3 −1603.51 x 1 x 3−2016.3 x 1 ++0.0038

where y is the weld strength in Newton’s, x 1 is the workpiece thickness in millimeters, x2 is

the electrode force in Newton’s and x 3 is the weld time level indicated on the prototype
RSW machine[7].

SN Thickness x1/mm Electrode Force x2/N Weld Time x3/s Predicted Strength/N
1 0.8 600 4 5723.50
2 1 600 4 4925.80
3 1.5 1000 2 5486.60
4 2.0 1000 2 7262.00
Table 1: Predicted spot weld strength

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1.6 Study/Design

Figure 2: Project methodology flowchart

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 1.7 Gantt Chart
Table 2: Gantt chart showing working schedule

First Semester Second Semester

Time July 2022 Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan 2023 Feb

Tasks 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

Literature Review

Proposal Defense

Mathematical Calculations

Design

Mid -Term Presentation

Material Collection

Fabrication

Testing and Modifications

Final Presentation

INDEX

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 Task Completed

Task Remaining

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 Chapter 3 BUDGET ESTIMATION
Table 3: Table showing budget estimation

S.N. Products Units (pcs.) Price (Rs.)

1. Stepdown transformer 1 2500

2. Wood plank 1 1000

3. Galvanized sheet metal 1 1200

4. Cable connectors 1 50

5. Wires 1 450

6. U clamps/c brackets 1 150

7. Brass iron nails or copper 10 600

roods

Total 16 5950

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 Chapter 4 EXPECTED OUTCOME

To be able to design and fabricate handheld spot-welding device and to perform spot
welding on different metals.

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 5. REFERENCES
[1] Larry F. Jeffus (2002). Welding: Principles and Applications. Cengage
Learning p. 694. ISBN 9781401810467. Retrieved April 18, 2014.

[2] robot-welding.com Archived January 17, 2010, at the Way back Machine

[3] Al-Mukhtar, A. M. (2016). Review of resistance spot welding sheets:

processes and failure mode. In Advanced Engineering Forum (Vol.
17, pp. 31-57). Trans Tech Publications

[4] Raut, M., & Achwal, V. (2014). Optimization of spot-welding process

parameters for maximum tensile strength. International Journal of
Mechanical Engineering and Robotics Research3(4),507-517.
<http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/magazine/story?id=52026>

[5] Chao, Y. J. (2003). Ultimate strength and failure mechanism of resistance

spot weld subjected to tensile, shear, or combined tensile/shear loads.
Journal of Engineering Materials and Technology, 125(2), 125-132.

[6] Zhou, M., Hu, S. J., & Zhang, H. (1999). Critical specimen sizes for tensile-
shear testing of steel sheets. WELDING JOURNAL-NEW YORK-, 78, 305-s.

[7] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spot_welding#cite_ref-3>

[8] T. Manufacturer, "Different types of welding and what they are used for," 13
May 2021. [Online]. Available:
https://www.themanufacturer.com/articles/different-types-of-welding-and-
what-they-are-used-for/.

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