Microscale electrical contact resistance analysis for resistance spot welding

Abstract

Electrical contact resistance is an important parameter for resistance spot welding. In this study, a microscale electrical contact resistance analysis method is pro- posed for resistance spot welding. The microscale electrical contact resistance analysis method is combination of an elasto–plastic large deformation contact analysis and an electric current analysis. The electric current analysis is performed for deformed shape of asperity. The tendency of the electrical contact resistance on contact pressure and tem- perature for the electrical contact resistance analysis agrees with that for Babu’s electrical contact resistance model. A multiscale coupled analysis method is also proposed for resistance spot welding. The multiscale analysis consists of macroscale elasto–plastic large deformation contact, electric current and thermal conduction triply coupled analysis and microscale electrical contact resistance analysis. It is confirmed that the resistance spot welding analysis without measurement of electrical contact resistance can be performed by using the microscale electrical contact resistance analysis