Civil Engineering Association

This specification defines quality characteristics and metrics pertinent to resistance spot welds on steels used in automotive applications. The evaluation methods and inspection criteria specified herein can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of particular welding equipment and procedures used to weld a particular base material combination. The criteria and metrics are the same for all welds regardless of the service load. The quality standards established by this specification do not constitute a lower bound of suitability for service; welds that do not meet the weld quality criteria of this specification may be satisfactory for certain applications. The acceptance criteria of this standard are not intended for applications outside this scope (such as post-crash weld quality assessment): attempts to do so may lead to an erroneous result.

The specific type and number of tests that are required shall be at the discretion of the specifying party. While the test methods were developed to compare the welding behavior of different steel grades, they can be judiciously applied to evaluate other aspects of welding behavior. Not all of the above mentioned tests are required to establish the resistance spot welding behavior of a given grade of steel.