Critical sheet thickness for weld nugget growth during resistance spot welding of three‐steel sheets

One of the most important issues in resistance spot welding of three‐sheet stack joints is the insufficient growth of the weld nugget, which may cause problems in places needing larger weld nuggets (i.e. sheet/sheet interface). In this paper, the effect of sheet thickness on the pattern of weld nugget development during resistance spot welding of three‐steel sheets of equal thickness is studied. Results showed that there is a critical sheet thickness of 1·5 mm at which the fusion zone size at the sheet/sheet interface is nearly equal to the fusion zone size at the geometrical centre of the joint. Increasing the sheet thickness beyond the critical size causes a shift in the location of weld nugget formation from the geometrical centre to the sheet/sheet interfaces. Below the critical sheet thickness, the weld nugget growth in the geometrical centre of the joint is higher than that in the sheet/sheet interface.