• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.995-1009
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• 2015

This study presents design optimization of spot welded structures to attain maximum strength by using the Nelder-Mead (Simplex) method. It is the main idea of the algorithm that the simulation run is executed several times to satisfy predefined convergence criteria and every run uses the starting points of the previous configurations. The material and size of the sheet plates are the pre-assigned parameters which do not change in the optimization cycle. Locations of the spot welds, on the other hand, are chosen to be design variables. In order to calculate the objective function, which is the maximum equivalent stress, ANSYS, general purpose finite element analysis software, is used. To obtain global optimum locations of spot welds a methodology is proposed by modifying the Nelder-Mead (Simplex) method. The procedure is applied to a number of representative problems to demonstrate the validity and effectiveness of the proposed method. It is shown that it is possible to obtain the global optimum values without stacking local minimum ones by using proposed methodology.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.30 no.9 s.252
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• pp.1142-1147
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• 2006

A practical method for reducing the number of spot welds in automotive structures considering fatigue crack initiation life is suggested. At first, an influence index for the durability and the fatigue life of a spot weld itself is defined and then taken as the main effect of the DOE analysis. Spot welds that can be removed without serious reduction of durability through numerical experiments are selected by the results of DOE. The proposed method was applied to the shock tower and LCA(lower control arm) structure of a vehicle, which are important components in durability-related point of view.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.47-55
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• 2015

With using adaptive control of the resistance spot welding machine, the advantage on electrode life time for galvanized steels has been addressed. This study was aimed to evaluate the electrode life time of galvanized steels with applying the constant current control and the adaptive control resistance spot welding process for a comparison purpose. The growth in diameter of electrode face was similar for both the constant current and the adaptive control up to 2000 welds. The button diameter was decreased with weld numbers, however, sudden increase in button diameter with use of the adaptive control after 1500 welds was observed. The peak load was continuously decreased with increasing number of welds for both the constant current and the adaptive control. The current compensation during a weld was observed with using the adaptive control after 1800 welds since the ${\beta}$-peak on dynamic resistance curve was detected at later weld time. The current compensation with adaptive control during resistance spot welding enhanced the nugget diameter at the faying interface of steel sheets and improved the penetration to thinner steel sheet.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.34 no.9
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• pp.1193-1199
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• 2010

Spot welding is the primary method of joining sheet metals in the automotive industry. As automobiles are subjected to fatigue loading, some spot welds may fracture before the whole system has failed. This local fracture of spot welds may lead to change in the dynamic response and consequently affect fatigue behavior of an automobile. Therefore, this change in dynamic response should be taken into consideration to assess the fatigue life of structures subjected to spectrum loading, such as automobiles. In this study, vibration fatigue analysis was performed by taking into consideration the change in the dynamic response due to accumulated damage at spot-welded parts. Fatigue tests were carried out on tensile-shear spot-welded specimens under constant amplitude loading condition. And the fatigue life of spot welds under spectrum loading was predicted using vibration fatigue analysis method based on finite element analysis.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.13 no.6 s.70
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• pp.484-489
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• 2004

This paper employed a systematic analysis using a 2-D hybrid special finite element containing an edge crack in order to describe the fracture behavior of spot-welds in automotive structures. The 2-D hybrid special finite element is derived form a mixed formulation with a complex potential function with the description of the singularity of a stress field. The hybrid special finite element containing an edge crack can give a better description of its singularity with only one hybrid element surrounding one crack. The advantage of this special element is that it can greatly simplify the numerical modeling of the spot welds. Some numerical examples demonstrate the validity and versatility of the present analysis method. The lap-shear, lap-tension and angle-clip specimens are analyzed and some useful fracture parameters such as the stress intensity factor and the initial direction of crack growth are obtained simultaneously.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.798-804
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• 2011

In this paper, optimal spot weld layout design for a shock tower structure is presented. This design increases the fatigue life of the spot-welds thereby increasing the fatigue life of the shock tower itself. In order to predict the fatigue life, a quasi-static analysis has been conducted then a fatigue analysis was performed through the application of random vibration loads. In order to optimize the spot weld layout, the design variables that have an effect on the spot weld fatigue life were determined. A spot weld fatigue analysis was then conducted based on the experiment design. Finally, a response surface model was made using the fatigue analysis results and an optimized spot weld layout model, one that increases the fatigue life of the spot welds and thereby the fatigue life of the shock tower, was developed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.598-603
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• 2009

Resistance spot welding has been investigated to apply for manufacturing car bodies because of its high productivity. So quality of resistance spot weld is one of the major concerns for both automobile and aerospace industry. Current design trends in automotive manufacture have shifted emphasis to alternative lightweight materials in order to aid in producing vehicles with higher fuel efficiency and lower down the vehicle emission level for environmental control. There is increasing emphasis to provide lighter cars. Therefore there is an effort to use high strength steels such as HSLA, dual phase, in car body. However there is used in restricted because of difficulty in producing consistently high quality resistance spot welds. In this study, resistance spot welding schedules were developed to achieve acceptable welds with improved static mechanical properties. Improved resistance spot welding schedules were developed using post heating current to reduce the cooling rate, or in-process tempering to reduce the hardness of the weld produced. The effects of resistance spot welding process parameter on hardening fracture mode and static mechanical properties of the joints were determined.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.184-184
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• 2000

In this study, the lap welding between austenitic stainless steel and carbon steel was carried out using arc spot welding process and weldability of welded specimens was estimated. From the tensile-shear strength test, micro Vickers hardness test, and microstructure observation, specimen of 6.5mm(hole of upper plate) showed the best results in terms of tensile-shear strength and nugget shape. And there was an unmixed zone in fusion boundary between the carbon steel base metal and bulk weld metal. This zone had very thin width with the hard microstructure. The shape of weld nugget in arc spot welding of dissimilar metal welds was predicted by searching thermal history of a weld joint through a three-dimensional finite element model. From the numerical analysis, predicted the shape of weld nugget showed good agreement with the experiment(Received August 24, 1999)

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.342-344
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• 2007

The resistance spot weldability of surface textured cold-rolled steel sheet was evaluated. One steel sheet(T4.5) showed reduced electrode life with less than 2000 welds, and all other steel sheets(E2.2, E4.5, T2.2) made more than 2500 welds. The carbon imprint test revealed that there is sudden electrode diameter increase around 1700 welds. It is believed that the increased electrode diameter decreased current density, and resulted in decreasing weld electrode life due to small weld button size. It is considered that surface roughness difference may attribute to heating during weld cycle and reduced the weld electrode life.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2008.05a
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• pp.36-36
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• 2008