An electrode includes an elongated body defining a longitudinal axis. A seating end portion includes a first truncated cone. The first truncated cone has a first truncated end and an opposing conical end. A working end portion includes a second truncated cone having a second truncated end. A constant length is defined between the opposing conical end and the second truncated end. The constant length is about 0.875 inch +/0.001 inch. The elongated body is located between the seating end portion and the working end portion.

A resistance spot welding electrode for forming dissimilar welded lap joints in crash-relevant structural components of the automotive industry made of high-strength materials. The resistance spot welding electrode includes a cap having, at an end portion of the electrode in contact with materials to be welded together during welding, a non-axially symmetrical contact area in order to form, between the materials being welded, a weld nugget with an essentially similar non-axially symmetrical shape.

A bonding material composition that can improve the shear strength, heat resistance, electrical conductivity, and heat dissipation properties of a bonding layer, a method for manufacturing a bonding material composition, a bonding film, a method for manufacturing a bonded body, and a bonded body are provided.

The bonding material composition according to the invention includes: metal particles (P) including first metal particles (P1) and second metal particles (P2); and a flux, in which the first metal particles (P1) are composed of a core (C1) made of Cu and a Cu.sub.2O layer covering the core (C1), and the second metal particles (P2) are composed of a core (C2) made of Cu, and Sn or Sn-containing solder covering the core (C2).

A welding process used in a method of manufacturing a steel sheet assembly includes spot welding steel sheets performed for a heat time of 0.08 seconds or more using a convex electrode with a tip radius of curvature of 20 mm or more or a flat electrode such that the weld force F (kN) for initial 0.03 seconds of the heat time satisfies formula: F<0.00125(1+0.75t.sub.all)+3 where TS (MPa) denotes an average strength of the steel sheets and represents a weighted mean value of a thickness of each of the steel sheets, and t.sub.all (mm) denotes a total thickness of the steel sheets (the sum of the thicknesses of the steel sheets).

A welding electrode for resistance spot welding includes a weld face comprising rings of ridges that project outwardly from a base surface of the weld face. The rings of ridges are positioned on the weld face to contact and impress into a sheet metal workpiece surface during resistance spot welding. If the welding electrode is used during resistance spot welding of light metal alloy workpieces, such as those of aluminum alloy or magnesium alloy, the rings of ridges on the weld face can contribute to improved welding performance.

A welding electrode suitable for resistance spot welding applications includes a first portion, a second portion, and a reduced diameter portion that extends between and connects the first and second portions. The first portion includes a weld face and the second portion includes a mounting base that opens to an internal recess having a cooling pocket. The reduced diameter portion extends between a back surface of the first portion and a front surface of the second portion such that a gap separates the back and front surfaces from each other. The gap may be vacant or filled with a low conductivity material. The disclosed welding electrode may be used in conjunction with another welding electrode to resistance spot weld a workpiece stack-up that includes an aluminum workpiece and an adjacent overlapping steel workpiece.

A holding apparatus (100) for electrostatically holding a component (1), in particular a silicon wafer, includes at least one base body (10, 10A, 10B) which is composed of a first plate (11A) and a second plate (12), the first plate (11A) being arranged on an upper side (10A) of the base body (10, 10A, 10B) and the second plate are made of an electrically insulating material, a plurality of projecting, upper burls (13A) which are arranged on the upper side (10A) of the base body (10, 10A, 10B) and form a support surface for the component (1), and a first electrode which is arranged to receive a clamping voltage, wherein the first plate (11A) is made of an electrically conductive, silicon-including ceramic and forms the first electrode. A method for producing the holding apparatus (100) is also described.

A spot-welding electrode cap extends along a longitudinal axis and has an end side with a central cap contact surface and with a transition section connecting directly radially and tangentially to the cap contact surface. The transition section is configured to be convexly curved with a radially outwardly continuously increasing curvature.

A welding electrode includes an electrode holder and an electrode cap removably attached to the holder and having a central longitudinal axis. The cap includes a body having an end, and a welding surface that is substantially smooth and free from any grooves defined therein, and has a first diameter of from about 7 to 10 mm, a first radius of curvature, and a second radius of curvature that is different from the first radius. The cap includes a skirt portion extending away from the body and configured to bear against the holder. The skirt portion has a first face that is substantially parallel to the axis and spaced apart from the surface. The body has a second face interconnecting the first face and the surface, and the body tapers from the first face to the surface. A method of forming a resistance spot weld joint is also disclosed.

Provided is an electric resistance welding electrode, which comprises an insulated cylinder, an electrode slidably inserted into the insulated cylinder, an urging member configured to apply an advance force to the insulated cylinder, and a stopper configured to set an advance distance of an insulated end surface of the insulated cylinder with respect to an pressing surface of the electrode to a predetermined distance. A receiving recessed portion for receiving a component is defined by the pressing surface retreated by the predetermined distance with respect to the insulated end surface and an inner surface of the insulated cylinder. The electric resistance welding electrode performs welding in one of welding modes consisting of a component welding mode and a spot welding mode.