Overload failure curve and fatigue behavior of spot-welded specimens

The mechanical behavior of a spot-welded specimen is generally approached in angles of overload and fatigue failures. The primary issue in an overload failure is to establish an overload failure criterion. Fatigue failure of spot-welded specimens can be dealt with a fracture parameter, since a spot-weld forms a singular geometry of external crack type. In this work, we express the limit loads in terms of base metal yield strength and specimen geometries. We then present a master overload failure curve for a single spot-welded specimen in a mixed-mode load domain. The coordinates of the domain are normalized by the limit loads of single spot-welded specimens. Recasting the load vs. fatigue life relations experimentally obtained, we attempt to predict the fatigue life of various spot-weld specimens with a single parameter denoting the equivalent stress intensity factor. This crack driving parameter is demonstrated to successfully describe the effects of specimen geometry and load type in an inclusive manner. The suggested fatigue life formula for a single spot-weld can be used in the assessment of spot-welded panel structures as the fatigue strength of multi-spots is eventually determined by that of each single spot-weld. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.