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Fatigue behavior of spot-welded joints in air and under corrosive environments

Part II: Fatigue under alternating and combined corrosion and fatigue load

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Abstract

The main aim of the project was to evaluate the influence of combined effects of fatigue loading and exposure to cyclic corrosion testing on the corrosion and the fatigue resistances of coated steel-based materials joined by resistance spot welding. Seven steel-based materials including cold rolled mild steels, high-strength steels, and press-hardened steels (PHS) were selected and provided by steel suppliers with different surface coatings for resistance spot welding. Panels were joined using conventional resistance spot welding in both lap-shear and T-peel designs. Joined samples were painted by e-coating following the industrial process. Metallographic characterization of the steel materials revealed that microstructures and metallic coating composition and thickness were as expected. Cross section of spot welds showed good quality and typical evolutions of hardness. Tensile tests and fatigue tests were performed on reference samples (fatigue in “air,” i.e., nonexposed to corrosion) leading to typical SN-lines as described in part I of this paper. The results were used to evaluate the influence of corrosion on tensile strength of the joined samples. Fatigue tests performed on combined and alternating corrosion and fatigue revealed that fatigue life is affected by extent of corrosion near the spot weld, with a reduction of the fatigue life at higher applied load and slight increase for lower load, compared to tests “in air.” This phenomenon was not observed for lap-shear configuration in alternated fatigue-corrosion mode.

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Abbreviations

a, b:

Regression parameters (linear regression)

BM:

Base material

C:

Fatigue capacity

CRS:

Cold rolled steel

d (mm):

Nugget diameter

\( \widehat{F} \) (N, kN):

Maximum force level of load range

\( {\widehat{F}}^{*} \) (N, kN):

Projected load level

HAZ:

Heat-affected zone

HSS:

High-strength steel

HV0,5:

Vickers hardness (Test load 4903 N)

IF:

Interfacial failure

k:

Slope exponent of Basquin equation

κ:

Risk factor at confidence limit

LS:

Lap-shear specimen

N:

Cycles

n:

Number of specimen in sample

N avg :

Average cycle number for projection of fatigue capacity

N f :

Cycles to failure

PF:

Plug failure

PHS:

Press hardened steel

PIF:

Plug interfacial failure

r:

Correlation coefficient

R:

R-ratio of stress range

RD:

Rolling direction

ReH, ReL (MPa):

Upper/lower yield point

RSW:

Resistance spot welding

s:

Standard deviation

SCx:

NaCl concentration in x %

SFx:

Frequency x of salt spray application per week

T:

Scatter factor

t, t1, t2 (mm):

Sheet thickness

TD:

Transverse to rolling direction

TP:

T-peel specimen

TS (MPa):

Tensile stress

Tx:

Temperature in x °C

YPE (%):

Yield plateau elongation

YS (MPa):

Yield stress

i:

ith value

*:

Projected value

10 %, 90 %:

Probability

N:

Load cycles

s:

Surveillance (reliability) or stress

C:

Fatigue capacity

References

  1. 2013 VDA 233-102, cyclic corrosion testing of materials and components in automotive construction

  2. D. Thierry, F. Vucko, B. Weber, L. Dosdal, G. Luckeneder, T. Bschorr, K. Rother: Fatigue behavior of spot welded joints in air and under corrosive environments. Part I: materials, specimen and test results in air. Revised version of IIW-Doc. XIII-2628-16, Welding In the World (submitted)

  3. voestalpine Stahl GmbH Linz: AutoFatCor Report on corrosion properties of joined samples. Deliverable D5. 12/09/2013. Research Fund for Coal and Steel; Grant Agreement No RFSR-CT-2011-00021

  4. Institut de la Corrosion: Report on the influence of climatic parameters on the combined corrosion-fatigue performance of joined samples. Deliverable D7. 18/03/2015. Research Fund for Coal and Steel; Grant Agreement No RFSR-CT-2011-00021

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Acknowledgments

Funding of the project by the European Commission, Research Program of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel, Technical Group: TGS7 Steel products and applications for automobiles, packaging and home appliances under the Grant Agreement No. RFSR-CT-2011-00021 is greatly acknowledged.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de la Corrosion, 220 Rue Pierre Rivoalon, 29200, Brest, France

    Dominique Thierry & Flavien Vucko

  2. voestalpine Stahl GmbH, voestalpine-Straße, 4020, Linz, Austria

    Gerald Luckeneder

  3. Arcelor Mittal Maizières Research SA, Voie Romaine, BP 30320, 57283, Maizières-lès-Metz Cedex, France

    Bastien Weber & Laurence Dosdat

  4. GSI mbH NL SLV, Schachenmeierstraße 3, 80636, Munich, Germany

    Thomas Bschorr

  5. Munich University of Applied Sciences, Dachauerstr. 98b, 80335, Munich, Germany

    Klemens Rother

Authors
  1. Dominique Thierry
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  2. Flavien Vucko
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  3. Gerald Luckeneder
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  4. Bastien Weber
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  5. Laurence Dosdat
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  6. Thomas Bschorr
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  7. Klemens Rother
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Klemens Rother.

Additional information

Recommended for publication by Commission XIII - Fatigue of Welded Components and Structures

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Thierry, D., Vucko, F., Luckeneder, G. et al. Fatigue behavior of spot-welded joints in air and under corrosive environments. Weld World 60, 1231–1245 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40194-016-0367-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40194-016-0367-z

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