Review of Experimental and Finite Element Analyses of Spot Weld Failures in Automotive Metal Joints

The spot weld failure analysis using experimental and numerical finite element analysis methods has been reviewed. The spot weld strength is governed by the welding parameters, sheet metal thicknesses and the loading conditions. Spot weld fails either by pull-out failure (PF) mode or interfacial failure (IF) mode. The spot weld failure modes depend on the diameter of weld and the loading types. Most reported experimental spot weld failure analyses were based on industrial standard test samples under quasi static loading. Limited work on combined loading on dissimilar metal joints with different thicknesses was found in the review. The review further observed that weld bonded joints have better fatigue life compared to spot welded joints. Extensive work has been proposed in this review on this type of hybrid joints as current research showed limited investigation in this area. In the finite element analysis of spot weld failures, current researches mostly investigated single spot weld failures using the standard tests under quasi static loading. The review proposed further study of spot weld failure of multiple spot welds under fatigue loading for dissimilar joints and hybrid joints. Finally, a hybrid system has been proposed to relate the experimental and computational weld failure analyses for spot weld optimization. © 2020 Jordan Journal of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. All rights reserved