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Effect of material inhomogeneity on fracture modes in aluminium–steel resistance spot welds
Author(s) -
Shi Liting,
Kang Jidong,
Chen Xu,
Haselhuhn Amberlee S.,
Sigler David R.,
Carlson Blair E.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
fatigue and fracture of engineering materials and structures
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.887
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1460-2695
pISSN - 8756-758X
DOI - 10.1111/ffe.13256
Subject(s) - spot welding , materials science , aluminium , welding , intermetallic , metallurgy , fracture (geology) , joint (building) , aluminium alloy , heat affected zone , base metal , composite material , structural engineering , alloy , engineering
Resistance spot welding (RSW) is attractive for joining dissimilar materials, especially, aluminium to steel in automotive body. The direct joining of aluminium to steel forms an intermetallic compound (IMC) layer at their interface that dominates mechanical behaviour of the joint. A new formula was developed that considers material inhomogeneities such as the different mechanical properties in the weld such as base metal, heat affected zone (HAZ) and the weld nugget to accurately calculate the minimum weld nugget diameter required to enable pull‐out fracture. The shear strengths of weld regions such as the HAZ and IMC were directly measured and used as inputs to this new formula. The new formula was validated using experimental measurements from six combinations of aluminium–steel welds in comparison with analogous aluminium–aluminium welds. The new derivation was able to accurately predict fracture modes for all material combinations.