Influence of Strength Level of Steels on Fatigue Strength and Fracture Morphology of Spot Welded Joints

Abstract:

In this paper, fatigue tests and finite element analyses are carried out on spot welded joints of mild steel (270MPa class) and ultra-high strength steel (980MPa class) in order to investigate the influence of strength level of base steels on fatigue strength and fracture morphology of spot welded joints. From the fatigue tests the following results are obtained: (1) Fatigue limit of spot welded joints is almost the same in both steels. (2) Fatigue fracture morphology of spot welded joints depends on the load level in the ultra-high strength steel, but not in the mild steel. From discussion based on the finite element analyses the following results are obtained: (3) The fatigue limit of spot welded joints can be predicted by stress intensity factors for a nugget edge, fracture criterion for a mixed mode crack and threshold value for fatigue crack growth in base steel. (4) Plastic deformation around a nugget in spot welded joints strongly affects the fatigue fracture morphology.

• Periodical: Key Engineering Materials (Volumes 462-463)
• Pages: 94-99
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.462-463.94
• Online since: January 2011
• Authors: Keiichiro Tohgo, Tomoya Ohguma, Yoshinobu Shimamura, Yoshifumi Ojima
• Keywords: Fatigue Strength, Fracture Mechanic, Fracture Morphology, Spot Welded Joint, Ultra High-Strength Steel

References

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