Resistance Spot Welding of Additively Manufactured Maraging Steels—Part II: Failure Behavior

Abstract

Application of maraging steels via selective laser melting process in the automotive industry was unavoidably involved in the resistance spot welding with conventional steels. Due to the rapid cooling rate of welding process, selective laser melted maraging steels with unique chemical components and stack microstructure could induce the different microstructural evolution, resulting in the complicated fracture behavior in the spot welds. This paper developed a FEA model to predict the fracture mode of spot welds of DP600 to maraging steel under KSII test conditions, and the effect of test conditions and printing orientations was studied. A method was proposed to calculate the material properties of fusion zone by introducing the combined effect of melting DP600 and maraging steels via selective laser melting, resulting in the accurate prediction of fracture mode and strength of spot welds. A diffusion layer with lower strength was found around the fusion zone and the fracture path propagated in the region, resulting in the partial interfacial failure of spot welds. Meanwhile, the printing orientation had no significant effect on the fracture mode and strength of spot welds, but the different material properties of maraging steels could affect the fracture displacement of spot welds. These findings could pave a way to guide the application of maraging steels via selective laser melting process in multiple industries, especially in the automotive industry.