A novel method for improving fatigue life of friction stir spot welded joints using localized plasticity

This study introduces a new method for enhancing the life and strength of friction stir spot welded (FSSW) joints using a localized plasticity process. The aim of this investigation is to evaluate the effect of cold expansion on the improvement of fatigue life of FSSW joints in aluminum alloy 7075-T6 plates through conducting experimental and numerical procedures. In the experimental section, the fatigue tests were carried out using constant amplitude load control servo-hydraulic fatigue testing machine on the as-welded and cold expanded FSSW joints with cold expansion level of 3.3%. In the numerical part, three-dimensional finite element models were implemented to calculate stress and strain distributions in two batches of specimens using two multi-axial fatigue criteria: Smith–Watson–Topper and Fatemi–777Socie. The obtained experimental and numerical S–N data revealed that the cold expansion method could improve the fatigue life of FSSW joints in all load ranges so that in high cycle regimes, it could improve the fatigue life up to 6 times. Although the results revealed that there is a relatively good agreement between estimated fatigue lives and experimental data in reasonable fatigue life regime, considering the fatigue crack growth life can lead to better estimation.