Abstract
Many kinds of joining methods are proposed for thin plate structures such as an automotive body. It is important to investigate the fatigue behavior of these joints. However, a large amount of fatigue tests are necessary to recognize the fatigue lives of these joints. Therefore, it is efficient to predict the fatigue life by numerical simulations to reduce the tests. In this paper, a fatigue life prediction method considering the transition from surface crack to through crack is reported. Numerical results of spot-welding specimens for SPC270 and SCGA590 are compared with the S-N curves obtained from fatigue tests, and proposed methodology is considered to be efficient for predicting S-N curves.
