Stainless steel is a material that is resistant to corrosion and is strong. This material is often used in manufacturing companies, especially in the manufacture of train car bodies. Train car bodies usually use SUS 301 and DIN 1.4003 stainless steel materials. This study used 1.5 mm thick SUS 301 and 2 mm thick DIN 1.4003 materials. The joining process used the spot welding method with a current parameter of 10.5 kA and hold time variations of 0.30 seconds, 0.35 seconds, 0.40 seconds, 0.45 seconds, and 0.50 seconds. The tests in this study were shear tensile tests, macro sectional tests, and microstructure tests. The highest shear tensile test results were found in the 0.50-second variation with an average value of 14252.84 N/mm². The macro sectional test results showed that the welded joints were good, with no porous welds or weld defects. The largest nugget diameter was found in the 0.50-second variation, with a size of Ø8.41 mm and a weld thickness of 2.86 mm. The Micro Structure observation results showed that the best metal fusion was found in the 0.50-second variation, with very faint and small ferrite and pearlite phase lines.
Keywords: stainless steel, spot welding, shear tensile test, macro section test, microstructure.