Failure Analysis of Resistance Spot-Welded Structure Using XFEM: Lifetime Assessment

Due to their effective and affordable joining capabilities, resistance spot-welded (RSW) structures are widely used in many industries, including the automotive, aerospace, and manufacturing sectors. Because spot-welded structures are frequently subjected to cyclic stress conditions while in service, fatigue failure is a serious concern. It is essential to comprehend and predict their fatigue behavior in order to guarantee the dependability and durability of the relevant engineering products. The analysis of fatigue failure in spot-welded structures is the main topic of this paper, along with the prediction of fatigue life (N_f) and identification of failure mechanisms. Also, the effects of parameters such as the amount of cyclic load applied, the load ratio, and size of the spot-welding on the N_f were investigated. To achieve this, the fatigue performance of spot-welded joints was simulated using the extended finite element method (XFEM). The XFEM method is particularly suited for capturing intricate crack patterns in spot-welded structures because it allows for the modeling of crack propagation without the need for remeshing. It was observed that when the cycling load was decreased by 20%, N_f increased by around 250%. On the other hand, the fatigue life of the structure, and, hence, the crack propagation rate, was significantly affected by the load ratio and diameter of the spot-welding. This paper presents the details of the novel approach to studying spot-weld fatigue characterization using XFEMs to simulate crack propagation.