Studies on the Effect of Process Parameters on the Shear Performance of Joints of Aluminium Alloy Produced by Adhesive Joining, Spot Welding and Weld-Bonding

In the present study, significant parameters of weld bonding namely surface roughness, curing temperature, curing time, welding current, weld cycles and electrode load and their ranges were identified by conducting pilot experiments for the adhesive bonding and resistance spot welding. The tensile shear resistance of the adhesive joint, resistance spot welds and weld-bonding was evaluated by applying uni-axial tensile shear load on the lap joints and applying tensile shear load and the results were obtained in the terms of ultimate shear load (USL). The maximum shear load carrying capacity was found in case of adhesive joints produced using surface roughness with 220 emery grade cured at temperature 120 degrees C for 60 min. A maximum USL was obtained in case of spot weld joints produced using welding current 13kA, weld load 0.5 kN and weld time 8 cycles. The strength of adhesive joint was found to be more than the resistance spot weld joint. The optimized parameters of spot welding and adhesive joining were used to develop the weld-bond.