Effect of weld stiffness in traction force approach on peak weld force

This paper investigates the effect of weld stiffness on the accuracy of peak weld force along weld when applying Traction force approach (TFA) where welded parts are only connected along weld root and toe lines. The study was carried out by analyzing a large number of 3D load carrying connections and comparing the peak weld force error with virtual work error in 2D weld profiles. Three different weld types were studied with varying weld size. In 3D connections the degree of bending and level of force concentration factor (FCF) was varied. Results show that the peak weld force error is increasing with increasing virtual work error in cases with high FCF whereas in cases with lower FCF the correlation is diminished. For welds with high virtual work error, a modification of TFA, i.e. TFA-M is proposed by adding a third connection at the centerline between toe and root thus reducing virtual work error and peak weld force error.