Quantifying the link between crack distribution and resistance spot weld strength reduction in liquid metal embrittlement susceptible steels

Zinc-coated advanced high-strength steels (AHSS) used in the automotive industry are vulnerable to liquid metal embrittlement (LME) during welding. In this work, a “crack index” is used to link LME crack distributions in resistance spot welds to the weld performance. Other commonly used LME metrics, such as maximum crack length, are unable to predict an effect on weld performance. Because both crack size and location have been established as …