Potential of optical strain field measurement for the characterisation of the properties of resistance-spot-welded joints

For the designing of safety-relevant components particularly by means of finite element calculations, great significance is attached to the determination of local material parameters in the welding region. Conventional test methods can merely provide global parameters which, however, are frequently not sufficient precisely for the calculation of resistance-spot-welded components since these are characterised by the existence of joining zones with tight local limitations. In contrast, modern test methods such as optical strain field measurement permit the determination of the characteristic material data for concrete locations and times. In order to establish the potential of optical strain field measurements for the characterisation of the local material behaviour of spotwelded joints, tensile shear tests as well as tensile tests were carried out on resistance-spot-welded high-strength steels. The results show the high potential of this procedure not only for the quanti fication of the local strain behaviour in the joining region but also for the determination of local characteristic material data.