BS EN ISO 18595:2007 Resistance welding. Spot welding of aluminium and aluminium alloys. Weldability, welding and testing
BS EN ISO 18595 is the international standard that specifies the requirements for resistance spot welding in the fabrication of assemblies of aluminium sheet, extrusions (both work- and age-hardening alloys) and/or cast material comprising two or three thicknesses of metal, where the maximum single (sheet) thickness of components to be welded is within the range 0,6 mm to 6 mm.
BS EN ISO 18595 is applicable to the welding of sheets or plates of dissimilar thickness where the thickness ratio is less than or equal to 3:1. It applies to the welding of three thicknesses where the total thickness is less than or equal to 9 mm.
Welding with the following types of machines is within the scope of this BSENISO18595:
- Pedestal welding machines
- Gun welders
- Automatic welding equipment where the components are fed by robots or automatic feeding equipment
- Multi-welders
- Robotic welders.
BS EN ISO 18595 also gives information on appropriate welding equipment and on spot welding conditions.
Information on spot welding is for guidance only and may require modification depending on service conditions of the fabrication, type of welding equipment, characteristics of the secondary circuit, electrode material and geometry.
The welding of coated material, e.g. zinc-coated or anodised material, is not covered by BS EN ISO 18595.
Contents of BS EN ISO 18595 includes:
- Scope
- Normative references
- Terms and definitions
- Symbols
- Material
- Form
- Types of aluminium alloys
- Surface conditions
- Edge distance, edge conditions, form of component and weld spacing
- Electrodes
- Materials
- Dimensions
- Cooling electrodes
- Weld assessment
- Weldability test procedure
- Procedure qualification tests
- Production tests
- Frequency of testing
- Weld quality requirements
- Weld diameter
- Weld dimensions
- Weld fracture mode
- Weld strength
- Weld appearance — Surface condition
- Multi-weld arrays
- Recommendations for spot welding equipment
- Typical spot welding conditions
- Non-exhaustive list of aluminium alloys covered
- Typical information to appear on a welding procedure sheet for spot welding
- Bibliography