A New Approach to Reduce the Carbon Footprint in Resistance Spot Welding by Energy Efficiency Evaluation.

Actions aiming to reduce energy consumption directly contribute to the reduction of manufacturing costs and carbon footprint while supporting manufacturing processes’ productivity. Resistance spot welding is relevant in the automotive sector. Due to its operational characteristics, this process has high energy consumption. Despite this fact, few studies have found to guide solutions for its reduction. In this sense, this study proposes a method to improve the resistance spot welding process’s energy performance without compromising its quality. This study applies statistical analysis (ANOVA) to support predictive models that characterize energy and quality performance. The statistical analyses confirmed and quantified the influence of the control factors in energy and quality performance indicators. The predictive models made it possible to anticipate energy consumption and quality behaviour from adjustments in the welding line process parameters studied in this paper. To fit the best compromise between energy consumption and quality, energy labels to classify the process’s energy performance were proposed. The best compromise solution for the studied process parameter ranges in this work was: \({C}_{wel}\): 8 kA, \({T}_{wel}\): 8 cycles and \({F}_{ele}\): 343 kgf. This parameter combination results in a consumption of approximately 2 Wh per spot weld. Approximately 33% less than the average estimated consumption per spot weld in the automotive industry.

Optimization on Spot Weld Parameters in Resistance Spot Welding Process on AISI 304

The spot welding procedure is used in a variety of industrial applications. The most critical elements influencing welding quality, productivity, and cost are the spot welding parameters. This research examines the effect of welding factors such as welding current and welding time on the strength of various welding joint designs. Resistance spot welding (RSW) is used in the automotive industry for manufacturing. This research focused on the optimization of process parameters for resistance spot welding (RSW), as well as the tensile testing and spot weld diameter. The goals of this analysis are to comprehend the physics of the process and to demonstrate the effect of electrical current, weld time, and material type on the resistance spot welding process.