Fatigue life duration prediction for welded spots by volumetric method

The mechanical behavior of spot-welds under tensile-shear for one, three and five spot-welds is investigated in detail. Volumetric approach is applied to find fatigue life duration of welded spots. The three-dimensional finite element models for different geometries, including gap effects and non-linear features of materials are applied to obtain fatigue life. The elastic–plastic stress distribution at edge of hot spot-weld is considered and effective stress, effective distance and notch strength reduction factor are obtained. The comparison between experimental and volumetric approach reveals good agreement with real fatigue life.