Experimental and numerical study of water jet spot welding

Some experimental and numerical aspects of the water jet spot welding are presented in this paper. A 3D finite element simulation is used to simulate the water jet spot welding process and the results are validated using the experimental data obtained previously by one of the authors and others [Salem, S.A.L., Al-Hassani, S.T.S., 1986. Impact spot welding by high speed water jets. In: Lawrence, E.M., Karl, P.S., Meyers, M.A. (Eds.), Metallurgical Applications of Shock Wave and High Strain Rate Phenomena, Marcell-Dekker, New York (Chapter 53)]. The main objective of the numerical simulation was the identification of parameters, which correlate well with the quality of the welds produced. The results show that the levels of equivalent plastic strain and shear stress directions in the materials predict the success or failure of the welding process. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.