The Influence of the Welding Energy on the Residual Stress and Magnetic Properties of Steel AISI 444 Welded by the RSW Process

Abstract

Ferritic stainless steel has been gaining space in the industry, due mainly to its durability and applicability. In recent years, the growing technological advances of the metalworking industry, enabled the development of new alloys and welding processes of this metal. In the midst of these processes, resistance spot welding has been largely used due to the very short process time with low cost. Although there is a lack of available information in the literature, the union of materials by the mixture of the simultaneous action of heat and deformation, present in the resistance spot welding, can affects the mechanical and magnetic properties directly of ferritic stainless steels. Thus, an evaluation of these characteristics in manufactured products becomes important in certain industrial sectors, especially in electronic and metrological equipment. The main objective of this article is the observation of residual stresses and magnetic properties at different levels of welding energy and deformation in the resistance spot welding process steel AISI 444. The results showed that welding and deformation energy affect magnetic properties, on the other hand there is no substantial influence on the residual stress.

Key-words:
Ferritic stainless steel; Welding energy; Residual stresses; Magnetic properties; Resistance spot welding