Welding metallurgy of stainless steels during resistance spot welding Part II –heat affected zone and mechanical performance

Implementation of new materials in automotive body-in-white requires through knowledge of their metallurgical response to welding process thermal cycle. This two-part paper aims at understanding the physical and mechanical metallurgy of stainless steels, as interesting candidates for automotive application, during resistance spot welding. The second part addresses the phase transformations in the heat affected zone of three types of stainless steels including austenitic, ferritic and duplex steels. Failure modes and mechanical properties of stainless steel resistance spot welds are discussed. The peak load and energy absorption of stainless steel resistance spot welds are compared with advanced high strength steels.