The University of British Columbia

Purpose

Resistance welding produces high quality components with a repeatable manufacturing process. However, direct scale-up is not feasible, as the power and pressure requirements for joining large components becomes cost and space prohibitive. Continuous resistance welding (CRW) effectively breaks down a large weld into smaller segments or weld sections and implements continuous motion of the welding tip along the weld seam. The performance and quality of the welded joint are directly related to the weld interface thermal history, thus welding tip speed and power input are controlled to maintain the desired weld temperature, thereby ensuring a high-quality bond. This is only practical if process simulation is used as part of a smart control system. In this Project, UBC will develop and implement a suitable physicsbased simulation to enable CRW of complex structures.