Ultrasonic phased array imaging and data post processing with applications to resistance spot welding
type: CreativeWork
description: Resistance spot welding is a widely used metal joining method in the automotive industry due to its low cost, ease of automation and high throughput. Resistance spot welding is a process that joins two or more metal sheets through the application of force and high current in a localized region, or spot. With the average car containing thousands of such spot welds, some of which compose structural and safety components, the evaluation of the quality metrics related to this process is of key interest to the automotive sector. With this in mind, the evaluation of spot weld parameters including, size, penetration depth and yield strength have been evaluated using both destructive and non-destructive techniques. One of the more recent advancements involves the use of real time monitoring of the resistance spot weld using a single element transducer placed inside the welding electrode. This transducer allows for a determination of the penetration depth based on ultrasonic reflection at a single point within the weld stack. From this, other properties are estimated using the geometry and materials that are being welded. Such an approach works well in many cases but falls short as the industry shifts to ultra-high strength steels and aluminum materials, which are more prone to off-centre defects such as cracks and porosity. This work aims to overcome many of these challenges by replacing the current probe with a linear phased array version. Such a change allows for the monitoring of not only the weld penetration depth but also the lateral size of the weld alongside the detection of defects such as pores. This system would offer a significant advantage over current methods from a quality assessment standpoint. In order to realize these benefits, this work aims to bring such a system into a production-ready capacity. This includes designing a phased array system that is low cost and easy to maintain in a production environment. In addition to this, the methods of processing u…
abstract: Resistance spot welding is a widely used metal joining method in the automotive industry due to its low cost, ease of automation and high throughput. Resistance spot welding is a process that joins two or more metal sheets through the application of force and high current in a localized region, or spot. With the average car containing thousands of such spot welds, some of which compose structural and safety components, the evaluation of the quality metrics related to this process is of key interest to the automotive sector. With this in mind, the evaluation of spot weld parameters including, size, penetration depth and yield strength have been evaluated using both destructive and non-destructive techniques. One of the more recent advancements involves the use of real time monitoring of the resistance spot weld using a single element transducer placed inside the welding electrode. This transducer allows for a determination of the penetration depth based on ultrasonic reflection at a single point within the weld stack. From this, other properties are estimated using the geometry and materials that are being welded. Such an approach works well in many cases but falls short as the industry shifts to ultra-high strength steels and aluminum materials, which are more prone to off-centre defects such as cracks and porosity. This work aims to overcome many of these challenges by replacing the current probe with a linear phased array version. Such a change allows for the monitoring of not only the weld penetration depth but also the lateral size of the weld alongside the detection of defects such as pores. This system would offer a significant advantage over current methods from a quality assessment standpoint. In order to realize these benefits, this work aims to bring such a system into a production-ready capacity. This includes designing a phased array system that is low cost and easy to maintain in a production environment. In addition to this, the methods of processing u…
author: Draskovic, Milos
language: en_CA
license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
date published: 2024-01-10
date modified: 2026-07-27T22:04:52Z
provider: University of Windsor
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Windsor

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14776/8351