Fatigue strength of steel–aluminum alloy dissimilar lap joints fabricated by dimple spot welding for automotive application

Abstract Recently, a new dissimilar mechanical joining method, dimple spot welding (DSW), has been developed for joining steel sheets and aluminum alloys. In this study, tensile shear tests and fatigue tests were conducted on four types of dissimilar lap joints, with two types of steel sheets and two types of Al alloys joined by DSW. Both the tensile shear strength and fatigue strength of DSW joints were found equal to or greater than those of a self‐piercing riveting (SPR) joint. In all four types of DSW joints, fatigue cracks were initiated from the Al alloy and were associated with fretting induced by repeated contact and friction. A finite element analysis showed that the tangential stress was mainly governed by the friction coefficient and also affected by the steel sheet strength. Higher‐strength steel led to lower tangential stress, resulting in a longer fatigue life for the DSW joint.