Integrated Monitoring System For Resistance Spot Welding On Stainless Steel Vehicle

Resistance spot welding is the most important welding process used for stainless steel vehicle manufacturing. However, resistance spot welding has a major problem of inconsistent quality from weld to weld, which results from both complexity of basic process as well as from various process conditions, noise, and errors. Therefore, welding quality is critical in stainless steel vehicle manufacturing. Real-time monitoring and visualization of dynamic signals during resistance spot welding process are helpful to online welding quality evaluation. In this study, through using modern sensor technology and computer monitoring technology, an on-line monitoring system of electrical and mechanical signals was established to monitor welding current, voltage between electrodes, dynamic resistance, and dynamic electrode force during resistance spot welding. A software was designed to monitor various signals, display curves, store and inquire welding information based on the technologies of Visual C++.NET, Measurement Studio, and Access database. This integrated welding monitoring system has been successfully used for automatic spot welding of some model vehicle and became an important auxiliary quality evaluation measure for welding operators and quality inspectors.