Influences of Weld Nugget Shape and Material Gradient on the Shear Strength of Resistance Spot‐Welded Joints

<jats:p>Resistance spot‐welded joints containing press‐hardened steels are seen to exhibit a fracture mode called total dome failure, where the weld nugget completely separates from one steel sheet along the weld nugget edge. The effect of weld nugget shape and material property gradients is studied based on damage mechanics modeling and experimental validation to shed light on the underlying influencing factors. For a three‐steel‐sheet spot‐welded joint combining DP600 (1.5 mm)–CR1900T (1.0 mm)–CR1900T (1.0 mm), experiments under shear loading reveal that fracture occurs in the DP600 sheet along the weld nugget edge. In subsequent numerical simulation studies with damage mechanics models whose parameters are independently calibrated for every involved material configuration, three variations of the geometrical joint configuration are considered—an approximation of the real joint, one variation with a steeper weld nugget shape, and one variation with a less pronounced gradient between weld nugget material and heat‐affected zone material properties. The results of the finite‐element simulations show that a shallower weld nugget and a more pronounced material gradient lead to a faster increase of plastic strain at the edge of the weld nugget and promote the occurrence of total dome failure.</jats:p>