Modelling of the deformation and fracture behaviour of laser welds for crash simulation

The application of laser welding is increasing for joining automotive components to the body in white. But laser welding is less used compared to conventional joining techniques like spot welding. The reasons are the missing knowledge about crash worthiness of laser welds and missing methods to model the laser welds in crash simulation. The questions are how laser welds behave under crash loading: What are the experimental methods for a reliable characterisation? What are the numerical methods for an efficient simulation of the load-bearing capacity of the joints? A working group of FAT AK27UA crash and occupants simulation initiated a research project to answer these questions.