Ferritic-austenitic stainless steels dissimilar resistance spot welds: metallurgical and failure characteristics

The paper addresses the microstructure and failure characteristics of dissimilar resistance spot welds between austenitic stainless steel and ferritic stainless steel. The fusion zone (FZ) of dissimilar welds exhibited complex microstructure consisting of ferrite, austenite and martensite. The development of this triplex structure in the FZ was explained by analysing the phase transformation path and austenite stability. Results showed that all dissimilar welds failed in partial thickness-partial pull-out failure mode. It was shown that the fraction of the nugget fracture of the weld is reduced by increasing the FZ size improving the mechanical performance of the weld. Peak load and energy absorption of the similar and dissimilar welds were compared and analysed.