Flexible Automation and Integrated Manufacturing 1998

ISBN Print: 978-1-56700-118-1

AUTOMATING THE LOAD/UNLOAD CYCLE IN CAPACITOR-DISCHARGE WELDING

DOI: 10.1615/FAIM1998.540
pages 601-608

Resumo

Low-voltage capacitor-discharge welding (CDW) process offers environmentally-friendly, high-volume joining of advanced materials in home appliance, cutting tool, automotive, and electromechanical industries among others. Because of high cooling rates in excess of one million °K/s, CDW offers the potential to join dissimilar materials without deleterious phase formation at very high production rates. However, potential industrial users are hesitant to use the CDW process due largely to the unavailability of automation. The objective of this research was to investigate the use of vacuum tooling in automating the load-unload cycle in CDW. The effectiveness of a vacuum chuck is compared to the effectiveness of a mechanical collet by welding together studs of electrically-pure aluminum. Limitations of vacuum tooling for CDW are discussed.