Measurement of damage growth in ultrasonic spot welded joint

Conference paper (2022)

Authors

E.T.B. Smeets Structural Integrity & Composites - Aerospace Engineering
C.D. Rans Structural Integrity & Composites - Aerospace Engineering
R.C. Alderliesten Structural Integrity & Composites - Aerospace Engineering
Saullo G.P. Castro Aerospace Structures & Computational Mechanics - Aerospace Engineering
I.F. Villegas Aerospace Structures & Computational Mechanics - Aerospace Engineering
Research Group
Structural Integrity & Composites (Aerospace Engineering) (TU Delft)
Copyright: © 2022 E.T.B. Smeets, C.D. Rans, R.C. Alderliesten, Saullo G.P. Castro, I.F. Villegas
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Published Date

2022

Language

English

Faculty

Aerospace Engineering

Department

Aerospace Structures & Materials

Research Group

Structural Integrity & Composites

Abstract

Ultrasonic spot welding is a joining technique for thermoplastic composites with great potential regarding processing speed and cost. To investigate the damage tolerance and possible inherent damage arresting behavior of multi-spot welded joints, a technique is necessary to measure damage growth in the joints under cyclic loading. Visual inspection is not possible because the damage is not located on the outside surface and conventional techniques such as C-scan are not practical during a fatigue test because the specimen would have to be removed from the setup. This paper details a methodology for quantifying damage growth rates in singlespot welded joints using surface strain measurements made by Digital Image Correlation. This represents the first step towards developing a methodology for quantifying damage progression behavior in complex multi-spot welded joints.