Advantages of Capacitor Discharge Welding:

• Large assortment of material combinations and common coated materials can be joined
• Welds without distortion, discoloration, or annealing
• Mechanical tolerances are maintained and parts are assembly-ready without cleanup or finish machining
• Process is repeatable, controllable and selective (suspect welds are flagged)
• High production speeds
• Insensitive to oil or other part surface anomalies
• Short welding time localizes heat, allowing CD welds adjacent to heat sensitive parts
• Capacitor discharge welding energies available up to 120 kJ
• Fine crystalline microstructure forms at weld interface

Special Advantages for Powdered Metal Components:

• Significantly higher strength powdered metal joints are possible
• Insensitive to porosity (can weld densities of 6.5 g/cm³)
• Offers an alternative to sinter brazing (due to productivity or geometrical requirements, brazing is sometimes less desirable)
• Localized stress concentrations reduced due to a smoothed density gradient near the weld
• Effective weld width is moved deeper into the parent material
• Retained lubricants are not critical
• Avoids creation, segregation and mixing of unwanted alloys (e.g. copper infiltrated parts are weldable since copper is not drawn into weld)
• Higher carbon (0.8% C) parts can be welded without the detrimental effects of brittle weld structure
• Lower heat input eliminates part distortion
• Materials can be selected regardless of the weld process
• Dissimilar powdered metal materials can be welded to create special function assemblies
• Can create component designs not previously possible and often dismissed by powdered metal part designers