Resistance welding uses an easily melted material called a weld to join metal pieces. Heat is generated through an electric current, allowing for gentle welding of small components. Advantages include less risk of damage to components, faster production speeds, and increased safety. Drawbacks include higher initial costs and a more complex station. Welding and brazing are similar but differ in key ways.
Resistance welding is a process of joining pieces of metal that uses an easily melted material called a weld. In this form of welding, the heat that melts the weld is generated through the application of an electric current to the weld and the welding tool. Typically, a standard voltage source is used to supply this current. It is typically passed through a step-down transformer to provide a low voltage, high current output. This allows for a large amount of heat to be generated in a very small area, thus allowing for gentle welding of small or closely spaced components.
Heat can be generated by applying a current to any resistive material, but materials of higher resistance generate more heat. Incandescent light bulbs, for example, generate light and heat due to current flowing through the filament wire inside the bulb. Just as a light bulb can get very hot, so can other materials. Resistance welding takes advantage of this to melt the weld which is then used to join the metal pieces together.
There are a number of advantages to using this welding method over traditional methods. Heat is only generated in a small area and dissipates quickly, so the risk of damaging small or closely spaced components is less than with other methods. Production speeds can be increased with resistance welding because heating is nearly instantaneous and the part cools much faster than with traditional welding. Operating costs can be lower due to more efficient use of electricity and less wear and tear on welding equipment.
Safety is another area where resistance welding offers advantages over other joining techniques. Heat is only generated during the actual welding operation, so there is no chance of bumping a hot but stationary iron close to the operator. This method also avoids the use of an open flame as is required in some other joining processes. The rapid cooling of the workpieces after welding also helps to avoid accidents.
While resistance welding offers many benefits, it does have some drawbacks. The initial cost of the equipment is typically higher than that of traditional welding. A typical resistance welding operation takes place in a rather complex station compared to the simpler and more portable traditional method of soldering with an iron. This station generally comprises a rather bulky power supply to generate the necessary current as well as welding probes and a pedal for carrying out the actual assembly procedures.
Welding and brazing are similar processes for joining metals, but differ in some key ways. Welding involves melting not only the filler material, but also the two metals being joined, whereas resistance welding only melts the weld applied to join the metals together. Both welding and brazing involve melting only the filler material, but in brazing this filler material has a much higher melting point than the filler used in resistance welding.
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