In this study, the critical nugget size, at which the failure state in tensile shear test changed from the interfacial failure mode to the pull-out failure one, was estimated as a function of nugget and base metal hardness. The proposed approach could address the effect of various parameters involved in resistance spot welding process, such as sheet thickness, base metal chemical composition and physical properties of electrodes and sheets. The reliability of the present model was evaluated using independent experimental results. Based on the obtained results, the effect of steel composition on critical nugget diameter was found to be more important, especially for the sheets thicker than about 1 mm, whereas predicted nugget sizes by previous models could not guarantee the pull-out failure mode.
