Patent ID: 9440305
Filing Date: 2016-09-13
CPC Classification: B23B,B23K

Claim Text:
1. A method of resistance spot welding aluminum alloy workpieces together, the method comprising; providing a welding electrode having a weld face; shaping the weld face of the welding electrode to have a radius of curvature ranging between approximately 20 millimeters (mm) and 40 mm, inclusive; texturing the weld face after shaping to provide the weld face with a peak-to-valley surface roughness ranging between approximately 2 micrometers (μm) and 50 μm, inclusive; performing resistance spot welding with the welding electrode to form a plurality of resistance spot welds between overlapping aluminum alloy workpieces; and dressing the weld face to re-establish a radius of curvature of the weld face that ranges between approximately 20 mm and 40 mm, inclusive, and to remove a depth of material from the weld face sufficient to remove contamination build-up on the weld face from performing resistance spot welding.