Critical Specimen Sizes for Tensile-Shear Testing of Steel Sheets

Tensile-shear testing results are influenced not only by the quality of spot welds, but also by the dimensions of testing specimens. Experimental and numerical studies have been conducted on determining critical sizes for tensileshear testing of resistance spot welded specimens. Statistical methods have been employed, from planning stages to the analysis of results, for the purposes of getting generic relationships between the critical dimensions and the geometric variables and material properties of testing specimens. The specimen width was found the most influential, and quantitative relations were developed for testing spot welded specimens of various gauges and strengths. The systematic research results obtained in this study can be used as a guideline for tensile-shear testing specimen preparation and for analyzing testing results.