Improvement of fatigue life in post-weld cold worked aluminum resistant spot welds

Aluminum Resistance Spot Weld (Al RSW) is an enabling technology for body assembly of low mass fraction vehicles. Due to the unreliable durability of spot-welded joints, applications of Al RSW are limited. This study presents experimental investigation on the use of a post-weld cold working process to improve the fatigue strength of Al RSW. The post-weld cold working process includes special shaped indenters; that are pressed or driven into the structure to induce compressive residual stresses. The mechanical properties of the post-weld cold worked Al RSW were investigated, including the experimental results of fatigue and micro-hardness tests. Comparisons of the mechanical properties and qualitative results between the as-welded RSW specimens and the post-weld cold worked RSW specimens are discussed. The post-weld cold worked Al RSW samples had an increase in both microhardness and fatigue life.