Patent ID: 7385156

Claim:
A full-circumference forced-insertion welded structure for the manufacture of automotive components comprising: a first member with a circular hole, the hole having an inner wall surface whose geometry is the same as a cross section of a forcibly inserted portion of a second member, and the first member is formed into a plate member having the circular hole whose inner wall surface extends vertically from a surface of the plate member; and the second member having a constant cross section over its insertion portion which is similar in shape to the hole; wherein the first member and the second member consist of steel materials and have almost equal melting points; wherein a press-fit interference of the second member relative to the hole of the first member is set to 0.1 mm or more, and is set smaller than 0.3 mm; wherein the first and the second members are welded together by setting a press-fit depth over which the two members are jointed together to (1-2×(press-fit interference)) mm or more, and are jointed together by setting an upper limit to (9-20×(press-fit interference)) mm; wherein a cross-sectional area of a joint between the first member and the second member is set 20 cm 2 or less; wherein the second member is pushed against the hole of the first member under a predetermined pressure and at the same time an electric current is applied between the two members to generate electric resistance heat in faying portions of the two members to forcibly push the second member into the hole, with the faying wall surfaces of the second member and the first member rubbing against each other as they slide in pressurized contact toward each other, thereby forming a joint interface between the second member and the inner wall surface of the hole; wherein the joint interface thus formed is a solid-state welded joint interface.