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More than 200 tensile-shear resistance spot welded specimens were produced and tested to analyze the effect of spot weld spacing, weld size, sheet thickness, and adhesive on the ultimate strength of joints made from a mild hot dip galvannealed steel and an unexposed quality hot dip galvannealed 590 MPa minimum tensile strength dual phase steel (DP590). The geometric layout parameters were analyzed by a design of experiment (DOE) approach. The analysis showed that weld size is a primary factor affecting the strength of the joints for a given material. It was also determined that structural adhesive created a large relative strengthening for joints made from the mild steel. Interactions of the geometrical factors are also presented.

Once a vehicle powertrain is designed and the first prototype is built, extensive on-board instrumentation and testing needs to be carried out at the proving grounds (PG) to generate load histograms for various components. The load histograms can then be used to carry out durability tests in the laboratory. When a component in the vehicle powertrain is changed, the load histograms need to be generated again at the proving grounds. This adds much time and money to the vehicle's development. The objective is to develop a virtual powertrain model that can be simulated through a powertrain endurance driving cycle in order to predict torque histograms and total damage. The predictions are then correlated against measured data acquired on a test vehicle that was driven through the same driving cycle at the proving grounds.