Effects of Failure Modes on Strength of Aluminum Resistance Spot Welds

Conference · Fri Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 2005

OSTI ID:15020100

Sun, Xin; Stephens, Elizabeth V; Davies, Richard W; Khaleel, Mohammad A; Spinella, Donald J

This paper examines the effects of failure modes on the static strength and total energy absorption of aluminum spot-welded samples using experimental, statistical, and analytical approaches. The main failure modes for aluminum spot welds are nugget pullout and interfacial fracture. Two populations of aluminum spot welds were studied. Within each population, coupon configurations of lap shear, cross tension and coach peel were considered. Thirty replicate static strength tests were performed for each coupon configuration. The resulted peak load and energy absorption level associated with each failure mode was studied using statistical models. Next, an analytical model was developed to determine the failure mode of an aluminum resistance spot weld based on stress analysis. It is found that weld size, sheet thickness, and level of weld porosity and defects are the main factors determining the cross tension failure mode for an aluminum spot weld. The peak load and energy absorption levels for the cross tension and coach peel samples tested are found not to be very sensitive to the failure modes under static loading.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 15020100
• Report Number(s): PNNL-SA-44942; VT0502010
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ALUMINIUM
DEFECTS
ENERGY ABSORPTION
FAILURE MODE ANALYSIS
POROSITY
STATIC LOADS
STATISTICAL MODELS
STRESS ANALYSIS
THICKNESS
WELDED JOINTS
aluminum spot welding
failure mode
statistical model