An Experimental Study of Mechanical Behavior of Resistance Spot Welded Aluminum 6061-T6 Joints

Florea, R. S., Solanki, K.N., Hammi, Y., Bammann, D., & Castanier, M. P. (2010). An Experimental Study of Mechanical Behavior of Resistance Spot Welded Aluminum 6061-T6 Joints. Proceedings of the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition, IMECE2010. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Abstract

In this study, the mechanical behavior, joint characterization and process sensitivity of aluminum 6061-T6 alloy Resistance Spot Welded (RSW) joints are investigated. Tensile tests were conducted on single weld lap-shear coupons until failure in order to determine the optimum welding parameters. Welding currents, forces and times have been investigated to establish the correlation between failure loads and nugget sizes. The experimental and preliminary finite element analysis (FEA) results indicate that failure loads and nugget sizes are strongly dependent upon welding parameters and the material anisotropy.