Copper Inlaid Silver-Tungsten Electrode

One variety of resistance spot welding electrode, or composite electrodes, is formed using copper inlaid silver-tungsten. Copper-inlaid silver tungsten electrodes are made by taking an electrode tip made of a silver tungsten alloy, typically a 70Ag30W or 80Ag20W ratio, and combining it with copper rods, either pure copper or chromium-zirconium copper, in order to improve the characteristics of the electrode and copper. For these electrodes, the silver-tungsten tip provides a great resistance to arc erosion, a high melting point, and high hardness, while the copper rod provides excellent thermal conductivity and superior heat dissipation efficiency. This set of characteristics allows the electrode to improve performance when welding. For positive joining, an NDB and CBT process, or brazing method, is used to create a zero-resistance, zero-gap interface connection. They typically preserve the material characteristics by using machine precision grinding to avoid the heat-affected zone in the finishing operations.