Resistance welding electrodes, methods of welding flanges therewith, and vehicles

A method for resistance welding, the method comprising:

• providing a workpiece stack-up including a first flange of a first workpiece and a second flange of a second workpiece, wherein the first flange extends from a remainder of the first workpiece by a first dimension of 10 millimeters or less and the second flange extends from a remainder of the second workpiece by a second dimension of 10 millimeters or less;
• bringing a first welding electrode into contact with the first flange and bringing a second welding electrode into contact with the second flange;
• passing an electrical current between the first welding electrode and the second welding electrode in accordance with a welding schedule that includes a pre-heating phase and a welding phase, wherein the pre-heating phase includes at least one preheating step during which the electrical current is held at a first current value that is below a minimum current value necessary to cause melting of the first flange and the second flange, wherein the welding phase includes at least one welding step during which the electrical current is held at a second current value that is above the minimum current value for a time sufficient to form a molten weld pool within the first workpiece and the second workpiece, wherein the electrical current is direct current;
• and
• ceasing the passing of the electrical current between the first welding electrode and the second welding electrode to allow the molten weld pool to solidify into a weld nugget that forms all or part of a weld joint between the first workpiece and the second workpiece.

A vehicle, comprising:

• a resistance-welded metal assembly comprising:
• a first workpiece having a first flange;
• a second workpiece having a second flange;
• and
• a weld nugget that forms all or part of a weld joint between the first flange and the second flange, wherein the first flange extends from the first workpiece by a first dimension of 10 millimeters or less and the second flange extends from the second workpiece by a second dimension of 10 millimeters or less;
• wherein the weld nugget was formed by a resistance welding process that included a weld schedule that included a preheating phase and a welding phase, wherein the pre-heating phase included at least one preheating step during which an electrical current was held at a first current value that is below a minimum current value necessary to cause melting of the first flange and the second flange, wherein the welding phase included at least one welding step during which the electrical current was held at a second current value that is above the minimum current value for a time sufficient to form a molten weld pool within the first workpiece and the second workpiece.