In this study conducted by Marwah Sabah Fakhri and colleagues, the resistance spot welding (RSW) process for aluminum (Al) and copper (Cu) materials was investigated. Using the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) method, the optimal welding parameters for both similar (Al-Al) and dissimilar (Al-Cu) joints were determined, and the weld nugget diameter was calculated both numerically and experimentally.

Mechanical Properties:

The tensile force results from numerical modeling were compared with experimental findings.

The shear tensile force was measured at 690 N for dissimilar joints and 780 N for similar joints.

Crack Behavior and SIF:

Crack propagation and the Stress Intensity Factor (SIF) were numerically simulated.

Fatigue loading was determined as 414 N (Al-Cu) and 468 N (Al-Al), corresponding to a percentage of the tensile force.

The SIF solutions were validated against existing theoretical models from Pook and Zhang in the literature.

Optimal Parameters:

The optimal welding parameters were determined as:

Welding current: 14,000 A

Electrode force: 8,800 N

Welding time: 1 second

Crack propagation was analyzed under a stress ratio of R = 0.1 and an initial crack length of 0.1 mm.

It was observed that cracks primarily developed near the Heat-Affected Zone (HAZ) surrounding the weld nugget diameter.

The numerical analysis results were found to be consistent with experimental data and existing theoretical SIF solutions.

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