Comparison of fatigue behaviour between resistance spot and friction stir spot welded aluminium alloy sheets

Tensile shear fatigue tests have been performed using resistance spot welded (RSW) joint and friction stir spot welded (FSSW) joint of aluminium alloy sheets. When fatigue strength was characterised in terms of applied load, RSW joint showed higher fatigue strength than FSSW joint in the entire load range, while the fatigue strength normalised with respect to the nugget area was higher in FSSW joint than in RSW joint. Friction stir spot welded joint exhibited a very small scatter of fatigue life compared with RSW joint, indicating that FSSW is a very stable and reliable joining method. Macroscopic fatigue fracture modes were similar in both joints: nugget shear fracture in high applied load region and parent sheet fracture in low applied load region. It was indicated that geometrical factors around the weld zone played a dominant role in determining the fatigue strength and fracture mechanism of the joints.