ABSTRACT
In recent years, many advances have been made in developing new materials and joining processes, which will lead to weight savings, reduced manufacturing times and ultimately cost savings. This research has identified laser welding of high strength aluminium alloys as a serious proposition. Previous work studying the performance of laser welded panels showed that welding had no adverse effect on compression buckling performance. This study looks at the effect of single vs. double sided welds on the buckling strength of welded panels. Panels with the same dimensions but different weld configurations were compared using finite element simulations and modifications to theoretical analysis developed in previous work. The results of this study show that weld configuration does not have a significant impact on the performance of welded panels in compression.
