A study of spot weld pull-out failure (PF) mechanism under different loading conditions for stainless steel and mild steel joints

ABSTRACT

Spot weld pull-out failures (PFs) on mild steel and stainless steel joints were investigated under different loading conditions using lap-shear test, cross-tension (KSII) test and coach-peel test. Regardless of the joint type, joints tested with lap-shear test showed the highest weld strength followed by KSII and coach-peel tests, respectively, for the same welding current. Analyses with experimental samples and finite element analysis showed that PFs due to different loading conditions were governed by either tensile stress, shear stress or bending stress. The tendency to fail via weld PF increased from welds tested with KSII test, coach-peel test and lap-shear test for similar steel joints within a range of welding currents. This study also showed that the weld diameters for PF depend on the joint type as well as loading conditions and did not conform to the recommended weld diameters by the automotive standards.

KEYWORDS:

• Spot weld
• pull-out failure
• weld diameter

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Aravinthan Arumugam

Dr. Aravinthan Arumugam is a Visiting Research Fellow at the School of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at Curtin University and an Engineering lecturer with Curtin College. He completed his PhD and undergraduate study in Mechanical Engineering from Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom. Arumugam’s research interest is in spot welding quality optimisation and weld failure analysis. He has been actively involved in welding research and consultancy for the past 10 years and has published his research work in various journals and conference papers.

Alokesh Pramanik

Alokesh Pramanik is currently a lecturer in Mechanical Engineering Discipline, School of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at Curtin University. He completed Masters and PhD degrees in Mechanical Engineering from National University of Singapore and University of Sydney respectively. Dr Pramanik has more than 15 year of research experience in the fields of manufacturing as well as composite materials at different universities. He has published more than 110 research articles which include several books, many book chapters and many reputed journal articles.