Resistance spot welding of 50Mo-50Re refractory alloy foils

The use of 50 Mo-50 Re foil materials (<.010" thickness) as heat shielding and in structural support applications for the microwave tube industry are well documented. A common fabrication and processing method for components and assemblies is resistance spot welding (RSW). There are many parameters employed in the welding processing: weld current, weld time, electrode force, hold time, squeeze time, electrode material, electrode geometry, electric polarity, surface roughness, cover gas, et al. In this study, an attempt is made to improve the RSW quality of 50 Mo-50 Re refractory foils and to understand the typical characteristics of RSW 50 Mo-50 Re alloys used in high power cathode assembly applications.