The present invention is provided with a roof side rail, a side outer panel that is formed of a dissimilar metal material having a higher electrical conductivity than the roof side rail, and a metal layer that is formed of the same metal material as the roof side rail and is disposed between the roof side rail and the side outer panel. Forming a nugget, which is a joint portion, between the roof side rail and the metal layer by carrying out resistance welding with the metal coating disposed between the roof side rail and the side outer panel makes it possible to accommodate the enhanced strength of an iron member and to render prepared hole processing unnecessary.

A cladding material for stainless steel clad steel plate, includes, by mass %, 0.03% or less carbon, 1.5% or less silicon, 2.0% or less manganese, 0.04% or less phosphorus, 0.03% or less sulfur, 22.0% to 25.0% nickel, 21.0% to 25.0% chromium, 2.0% to 5.0% molybdenum, 0.15% to 0.25% nitrogen, and the balance being iron and incidental impurities, wherein critical pitting temperature (CPT) after normalization as determined in accordance with ASTM G48-03 Method E is 45 C. or higher, and corrosion loss at a welded zone as determined by a corrosion test in accordance with NORSOK Standard M-601 is 1.0 g/m.sup.2 or less.

This indirect spot welding is for welding members including at least two overlapping steel sheets that have a ferrite phase as a main phase by holding a welding electrode (23) against a steel sheet (21) from one side while applying pressure with the electrode (23), attaching a feeding point (24) to a steel sheet (22) at the other side at a location remote from the electrode (23), and allowing current to flow between the electrode (23) and the feeding point (24). This welding includes contacting magnetic rigid bodies (26-1, 26-2) to a peripheral area of the electrode (23) from the one side against which the electrode (23) is held and securing an overlapping region in the peripheral area of the electrode (23) by a magnetic force produced by the rigid bodies (26-1, 26-2), thereby obtaining a weld having fully satisfactory strength, regardless of the rigidity of the members.

A temperature-controlled tank body having an integrated heat transfer panel is disclosed. The tank body may be mounted to a truck, trailer, or other mobile equipment and used for transporting a fluid at a temperature that is greater than that of the ambient environment. In an illustrative embodiment, the tank includes a barrel segment having a first sheet and an adjacent second sheet. The first sheet is joined to the second sheet along a first edge and a second, opposing edge. The first sheet is also joined to the second sheet at a plurality of locations between the first edge and second, opposing edge and enclosed at the ends to form a fluidly-sealed area. The tank includes a fluid inlet to facilitate pressurization of the fluidly-sealed area to generate a hydroformed cavity between the first sheet and the second sheet.

Devices and methods for resistance-welding a metallic component to a sandwich sheet having a thermoplastic layer disposed between two metallic cover layers may involve heating a region of the sandwich sheet to be welded such that the thermoplastic layer softens. The cover layers of the sandwich sheet may then be compressed so as to displace the thermoplastic layer from the region of the sandwich sheet to be welded. Electrical circuitry may then be employed to interconnect the metallic cover layers and the metallic component by passing a current through a pair of electrodes positioned on opposing sides of a combination including the sandwich sheet and the metallic component.

A method of resistance spot welding a workpiece stack-up comprising overlapping first and second steel workpieces is disclosed, wherein at least one of the steel workpieces comprises an advanced high-strength steel substrate. The workpiece stack-up is positioned between a pair of opposed first and second welding electrodes. A cover is disposed between at least one of the first steel workpiece and the first welding electrode or the second steel workpiece and the second welding electrode at an intended weld site. The workpiece stack-up is clamped between the first and second welding electrodes at the weld site such that at least one of the weld faces of the first and second welding electrodes presses against the cover. The first and second steel workpieces are welded together by passing an electrical current between the first and second welding electrodes at the weld site.

A method for manufacturing reinforced steel structural components is described. The method comprises providing a steel blank, selecting one or more reinforcement zones of the steel blank, locally depositing a material on the reinforcement zone to create a local reinforcement on a first side of the steel blank. Locally depositing a material on the reinforcement zone comprises supplying a reinforcement material to the selected reinforcement zone, and substantially simultaneously applying laser heating to melt the reinforcement material and a portion of the steel blank to mix the melted reinforcement material with the melted portion of the steel blank. The method further comprises forming the steel blank with the locally deposited material to shape the reinforced steel structural component. The disclosure further relates to reinforced components obtained using such methods and tools used in such methods.

An object is to provide a sash coupling structure and a method for sash coupling that ensures omission of the process. The sash coupling structure is made such that on a door frame constituted of a column and an upper sash, a coupling cross-sectional surface of the column and a coupling cross-sectional surface of the upper sash are butted together. The column is constituted of a channel member and an inner member. The channel member and the inner member include adhering portions coupled one another along a longitudinal direction. The inner member is plated. A non-adhering portion, which faces a non-not-yet-adhering portion of the inner member, is formed on the channel member at a butted coupling portion.

A system for generating a G-code for controlling an operation of a laser-cutting machine to cut parts from a sheet of material, upon receiving cutting data specifying a cutting order of parts and a cutting order of edges of each part, tests the parts for potential distortions and generates a G-code to avoid the potential distortion. For testing a current part, the system detects a potential distortion when the final edge of the current part is adjacent to an edge of a previously cut part scheduled for cutting before the current part according to the cutting order of parts. The system modifies the cutting order to select the modified cutting order for which the final edge is not adjacent to any edge of any previously cut part.

Methods and tools for manufacturing reinforced structural components are described. The methods comprise providing a structural component having a steel substrate and a metal coating layer. The method further comprises selecting a reinforcement zone of the structural component, guiding a first laser beam to ablate at least a part of the coating layer of the reinforcement zone, locally depositing a reinforcement material on the ablated reinforcement zone to create a local reinforcement on a first side of the structural component, wherein locally depositing a material on the reinforcement zone comprises supplying a reinforcement material to the ablated reinforcement zone, and substantially simultaneously applying laser heating using a second laser beam to melt the reinforcement material and part of the steel substrate of the ablated reinforcement zone to mix the melted reinforcement material with the melted part of the steel substrate. The disclosure further relates to reinforced components obtained using such methods.