Skip to main content
Log in

Research on the Detection Model and Method for Evaluating Spot Welding Quality Based on Ultrasonic A-Scan Analysis

  • Published:
Journal of Nondestructive Evaluation Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

To establish a system which can judge the spot welding quality automatically and effectively, the mathematical and acoustic simulation models of the spot welds detection through ultrasonic A-scan are established. The following results can be obtained: (1) The quantitative relationship between nugget diameter and detecting oscillogram is deduced and verified by simulation and experiments, and then the nugget diameter mathematic model is developed. (2) The attenuation characteristic of ultrasonic waves in spot welds is studied. It shows that ultrasonic attenuation is caused by two reasons: one is absorptive and scattering effect determined by base metal, the other is the multiple reflection and transmission effect caused by the sheet-structure. And their contribution varies in different welds (no weld, undersize weld and good weld). (3) The assessment software of spot welding quality is developed, the weld nugget diameter, attenuation coefficient and spot welding quality can be obtained within a short time. In addition, the whole detecting process and system is designed. The research results of this paper indicate the feasibility of applying this spot welding quality detecting method to the automatic production line.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15
Fig. 16
Fig. 17

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Macwan, A., Patel, V.K., Jiang, X.Q., Li, C., Bhole, S.D., Chen, D.L.: Ultrasonic spot welding of Al/Mg/Al tri-layered clad sheets. Mater. Des. 62, 344–351 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Li, B., Shen, Y.F., Hu, W.Y.: The study on defects in aluminum 2219-T6 thick butt friction stir welds with the application of multiple non-destructive testing methods. Mater. Des. 32, 2073–2084 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Chassignole, B., EI Guerjouma, R., Ploix, M.-A., Fouquet, T.: Ultrasonic and structural characterization of anisotropic austenitic stainless steel welds: towards a higher reliability in ultrasonic non-destructive testing. NDT&E Int. 43, 273–282 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Luo, Y., Li, J.L., Wu, W.: Characterization of nugget nucleation quality based on the structure-borne acoustic emission signals detected during resistance spot welding process. Measurement 46, 1053–1060 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Fujita, M., Ueno, M., Iwamoto, C., Satonaka, S.: Ultrasonic evaluation of spot welding nugget diameter with a line-focused probe. Weld. World 53, 281–289 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Liu, J., Xu, G.C., Gu, X.P., Zhou, G.H.: Ultrasonic test of resistance spot welds based on wavelet package analysis. Ultrasonics 56, 557–565 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Martin, O., Pereda, M., Santos, J.I., Galan, J.M.: Assessment of resistance spot welding quality based on ultrasonic testing and tree-based techniques. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 214, 2478–2487 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Kaminski, R.: Ultrasonic Testing of Spot-Welded Joints on Coated Steel Sheets and Optimization of Welding Parameters. GE Inspection Technologies Publilcation, Krautkrämer-Sonderdruck, SD 296

  9. Buckley, J., Servent, R.: Improvements in ultrasonic inspection of resistance spot welds. The 2nd International Conference on Technical Inspection and NDT. Tehran (2008)

  10. Rabinovich, S., Jassby, K., Livni, O., Aharoni, R.: Progess in spotweld test and classification tools. 15th World Conference on Nondestructive Testing. Roma (2000)

  11. Thornton, M., Han, L., Shergold, M.: Progress in NDT of resistance spot welding of aluminium using ultrasonic C-scan. NDT&E Int. 48, 30–38 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Takada, H., Tomura, Y., Aratani, M., Yamasaki, T., Sasaki, T.: On-line detection system for internal flaws in as-hot-rolled steel strip using ultrasonic probe array. Mater. Trans. 52, 531–538 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Ambroziak, A., Maev, R.G., Korzeniowski, M., Kustron, P.: Ultrasonic quality control methods for spot-welded joints. Weld. Int. 25(12), 927–932 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Cullen, J.D., Athi, N., Al-Jader, M., Johnson, P., Al-Shamma’a, A.I., Shaw, A., El-Rasheed, A.M.A.: Multisensor fusion for on line monitoring of the quality of spot welding in automotive industry. Measurement 41, 412–423 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. EI-Banna, M., Filev, D., Chinnam, R.B.: Online qualitative nugget classification by using a linear vector quantization neural network for resistance spot welding. Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol. 36(3–4), 237–248 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Zhao, D.W., Wang, Y.X., Sheng, S.N., Lin, Z.G.: Real time monitoring weld quality of small scale resistance spot welding for titanium alloy. Measurement 46, 1957–1963 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Athi, N., Wylie, S.R., Cullen, J.D., Al-Jader, M., Al-Shamma’a, A.I., Shaw, A.: An online real time ultrasonic NDT system for the quality control of spot welding in the automotive industry. J. Phys. Conf. Ser. 178, 012013 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Joshi, D., Kumar, A., Gupta, R., Yadav, S.: Sensitivity enhancement of concurrent technique of acoustic impedance measurement. MAPAN J. Metrol. Soc. India 28(2), 79–83 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Instructions of ultrasonic equipment, Phascan producted by Guangzhou Doppler Electronic Technologies Company. http://www.cndoppler.cn/enH/cp_con_c57_72_104_229.html

  20. Delrue, S., Abeele, K.V.D., Blomme, E., Deveugele, J., Lust, P., Matar, O.B.: Two-dimensional simulation of the single-sided air-coupled ultrasonic pitch-catch technique for non-destructive testing. Ultrasonics 50, 188–196 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Mozurkewich, G., Ghaffari, B., Potter, T.J.: Spatially resolved ultrasonic attenuation in resistance spot welds: implications for nondestructive testing. Ultrasonics 48, 343–350 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Moshayedi, H., Sattari-Far, I.: Resistance spot welding and the effects of welding time and current on residual stresses. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 214, 2545–2552 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. COMSOL, User’s Guide and Introduction. Version 3.5 by- COMSOL AB 2008 http://www.comsol.com/

  24. Courant, R., Friedrichs, K.O., Lewy, H.: On the partial difference equations of mathematical physics. IBM J. 11, 215–234 (1956)

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  25. Kolkoori, S., Venkata, K.C., Balasubramaniam, K.: Quantitative simulation of ultrasonic time of flight diffraction technique in 2D geometries using Huygens–Fresnel diffraction model: theory and experimental comparison. Ultrasonics 55, 33–41 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Roberts, D.R., Mason, J., Lewis, C.: Ultrasonic spot weld testing: attenuation study. Insight 42, 720–724 (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Ploix, M.-A., Guy, P., Chassignole, B., Moysan, J., Gilles, C., Guerjouma, R.E.: Measurement of ultrasonic scattering attenuation in austenitic stainless steel welds: realistic input data for NDT numerical modeling. Ultrasonics 54, 1729–1736 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National 863 Program (No. 2013AA040201), the Innovative Research Team Development Program of Ministry of Education of China (No. IRT13087), the Science and Technology Support Program of Hubei province (No. 2015BCE083) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2013-II-007).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiaokai Wang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Song, Y., Hua, L., Wang, X. et al. Research on the Detection Model and Method for Evaluating Spot Welding Quality Based on Ultrasonic A-Scan Analysis. J Nondestruct Eval 35, 4 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10921-015-0319-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10921-015-0319-3

Keywords

Navigation