Process Induced Residual Stress Effect on Fatigue Lifetime of Automotive Steel Components

Abstract:

Metal Active Gas (MAG) welding process of steel sheets generates, in the vicinity of the welding joint, the well-known Heat Affected Zone (HAZ) in which the material presents more microstructural defects compared to the original metal. Since high cycle fatigue is largely dependent on the material microstructure features, the HAZ is considered as the weakest zone under high cycle fatigue loading. In addition, the welding causes, in the Heat Affected Zone, irreversible plastic strains that induce important residual stress fields in this critical zone of the structure. Therefore, in order to properly predict the high cycle fatigue life time of the welded automotive components, it is of primordial importance to first identify and then consider, if necessary, the welding induced residual stress field in the structure modeling. In this work, it is found that residual stresses have non-negligible impact on high cycle fatigue lifetime, while its effect is minor in the low cycle fatigue domain.

• Periodical: Advanced Materials Research (Volume 996)
• Pages: 808-813
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.996.808
• Online since: August 2014
• Authors: Elias Merhy*, Ngadia Taha Niane, Bastien Weber, Philippe Bristiel
• Keywords: Automotive Steel Components, Life Time Prediction, Mechanical Fatigue, Welding Residual Stress

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