Failure Mode and Fatigue Behavior of Dissimilar Friction Stir Spot Welds in Lap-Shear Specimens of Transformation-Induced Plasticity Steel and Hot-Stamped Boron Steel Sheets

Author(s):  
S. H. Hong ◽  
S.-J. Sung ◽  
J. Pan

Failure mode and fatigue behavior of dissimilar friction stir spot welds in lap-shear specimens of transformation-induced plasticity steel (TRIP780) and hot-stamped boron steel (HSBS) sheets are examined in this paper. Optical micrographs of the dissimilar TRIP780/HSBS friction stir spot welds made by a concave silicon nitride tool before and after testing are obtained and examined. These micrographs indicate that subject to quasi-static and cyclic loading conditions, the TRIP780/HSBS welds fail from cracks growing through the TRIP780 sheets where the tool was plunged into and the thickness was reduced. The bending moments and the transverse shear force near the welds are derived with consideration of the load offset, the weld gap, and the bend distance for calculation of analytical global stress intensity factor solutions for the welds in lap-shear specimens. A fatigue model of kinked crack growth is used to estimate fatigue lives based on the local stress intensity factor solutions for kinked cracks. The estimated fatigue lives with consideration of the weld gap and the bend distance are in agreement with the fatigue test results under low-cycle loading conditions and lower than the fatigue test results under high-cycle loading conditions. The estimated fatigue lives suggest that the weld gap and the bend distance can significantly affect fatigue lives of the friction stir spot welds in lap-shear specimens under cyclic loading conditions.

Author(s):  
J. B. Jordon ◽  
M. F. Horstemeyer ◽  
H. Badarinarayan ◽  
J. Grantham

In this study, the fatigue behavior of AZ31 magnesium friction stir spot welded joints is experimentally investigated. The friction stir spot welds employed here are representative of preliminary welds made in developing the joining process for potential use in automobile manufacturing. Load control cyclic tests were conducted on single weld lap-shear coupons and were fatigued until failure to determine stress-life properties. The fractured coupons were examined under optical and scanning electron microscopes with the intent to determine fatigue crack characteristics. Fractography analysis suggests that long crack growth accounts for a majority of the fatigue life. To predict the fatigue life of the lap-joint coupons, a long crack growth modeling approach, based on a kinked crack stress intensity solution, was employed. The fatigue model predictions compared well to the experimental stress-life results.


Author(s):  
J. B. Jordon ◽  
M. F. Horstemeyer ◽  
S. R. Daniewicz ◽  
H. Badarinarayan ◽  
J. Grantham

The fatigue behavior of friction stir spot welds in magnesium AZ31 alloy is experimentally investigated and modeled. The friction stir spot welds employed in this study are representative of preliminary welds made in developing the joining process for potential use in automobile manufacturing. Load control cyclic tests were conducted on single weld lap-shear coupons to determine fatigue life properties. Optical fractography of the failed fatigue coupons revealed that fatigue cracks initiated from the interfacial “hook” and eventually failed by either nugget pullout or full width separation, depending on the cyclic load amplitude. The failure modes of the magnesium AZ31 alloy were similar to the aluminum alloys of comparable friction stir spot welds. To predict the fatigue life of the lap-joint coupons, a crack growth modeling approach based on a kinked crack stress intensity solution was used. The fatigue model predictions compared well to the experimental fatigue life results, despite an approximate stress intensity factor solution for this weld geometry. The experiments and modeling conducted in this study suggest that the size of the interfacial hook, which comes about from the speed, depth of plunge, dwell time, and tool configuration of the friction stir spot weld process, is a major contributor to the fatigue life of the joint.


Author(s):  
Jean Alain Le Duff ◽  
Andre´ Lefranc¸ois ◽  
Jean Philippe Vernot

In February/March 2007, The NRC issued Regulatory Guide “RG1.207” and Argonne National Laboratory issued NUREG/CR-6909 that is now applicable in the US for evaluations of PWR environmental effects in fatigue analyses of new reactor components. In order to assess the conservativeness of the application of this NUREG report, Low Cycle Fatigue (LCF) tests were performed by AREVA NP on austenitic stainless steel specimens in a PWR environment. The selected material exhibits in air environment a fatigue behavior consistent with the ANL reference “air” mean curve, as published in NUREG/CR-6909. LCF tests in a PWR environment were performed at various strain amplitude levels (± 0.6% or ± 0.3%) for two loading conditions corresponding to a simple or to a complex strain rate history. The simple loading condition is a fully reverse triangle signal (for comparison purposes with tests performed by other laboratories with the same loading conditions) and the complex signal simulates the strain variation for an actual typical PWR thermal transient. In addition, two various surface finish conditions were tested: polished and ground. This paper presents the comparisons of penalty factors, as observed experimentally, with penalty factors evaluated using ANL formulations (considering the strain integral method for complex loading), and on the other, the comparison of the actual fatigue life of the specimen with the fatigue life predicted through the NUREG report application. For the two strain amplitudes of ± 0.6% and ± 0.3%, LCF tests results obtained on austenitic stainless steel specimens in PWR environment with triangle waveforms at constant low strain rates give “Fen” penalty factors close to those estimated using the ANL formulation (NUREG/6909). However, for the lower strain amplitude level and a triangle loading signal, the ANL formulation is pessimistic compared to the AREVA NP test results obtained for polished specimens. Finally, it was observed that constant amplitude LCF test results obtained on ground specimens under complex loading simulating an actual sequence of a cold and hot thermal shock exhibits lower combined environmental and surface finish effects when compared to the penalty factors estimated on the basis of the ANL formulations. It appears that the application of the NUREG/CR-6909 in conjunction with the Fen model proposed by ANL for austenitic stainless steel provides excessive margins, whereas the current ASME approach seems sufficient to cover significant environmental effects for representative loadings and surface finish conditions of reactor components.


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