Modeling And Simulation Of A Spot Welding

Process - An Overview
A.Aravinthan*, K.Sivaoganathan*, !.Al-!a"ass**, #.$alendran*
Systems Engineering Research Group
*Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
**Department of Computing
Nottingham Trent University
Burton St Nottingham
%. A"stract
Resistance spot !elding is a process that is "eing !idely used in the industry for sheet
#oining purposes$ This paper descri"es the modeling and simulation of the !elding
process using the finite element modeling techni%ue$ & t!o dimensional a'isymmetric
model !ill "e used to model the thermo(mechanical(electrical coupling of the process$ &
mechanical analysis and a thermal(electric analysis !ill "e carried out using the
developed model$ This paper also includes the "enefits of modeling of the !elding
process to!ards production performance and cost$

&. 'ntroduction
Resistance spot !elding is a process of #oining t!o or more metal parts "y fusion at
discrete spots at the sheet interface$ Resistance to current flo! through the metal sheets
generates heat$ Temperature rises at the sheet interface till the plastic point of the metal is
reached the metal !ill "egin to fuse and a nugget is formed$ Current is then s!itched off
and nugget is allo!ed to cool do!n slo!ly to solidify under pressure$ This process is
completed !ithin a specified cycle time$ )igure * sho!s the diagram of the !elding
process$ The !elding process !as invented in *+,, "y -rofessor Elihu Thomson.*/ and
has "een e'tensively used since then in the manufacturing industries for #oining metal
sheets$ The t!o main industries that !idely use this process are the automo"ile industries
and the aircraft industries$
&.% Spot Welding Parameters and Welding (cle
The 0 main !elding parameters are 1( a2 current "2 force and c2 !eld time$ &ll these
parameters need to "e controlled effectively in order to produce a good %uality !eld$
The spot !elding process !elding process consists of 3 stages1(
*$ S%uee4e cycle 5 time during !hich the upper
electrode is "rought in contact !ith the sheets that
need to "e !elded and force is e'erted at the region
that need to "e !elded$
6$ 7eld cycle 5 time during !hich current is turned on
and resistance to current flo! at the sheet interface
produces a nugget$
0$ 8old cycle 5 time during !hich the current is turned
off and the fully gro!n nugget is allo!ed to cool
slo!ly and solidify under constant pressure till it$
3$ 9ff cycle 5 time during !hich the electrode is raised
form the !elded sheets and moved to the ne't
!elding location$

The aim of this paper is to descri"e ho! the !elding process especially the s%uee4e
cycle and the !eld cycle could "e modeled using the &NS:S modeling soft!are$
). *iterature review
Some !or; has already "een carried out on the modeling and simulation of a spot
!elding process$ -$S 7ei .6/ in his !or; has modeled the spot !elding process using
numerical modeling $ 8e had created an unsteady a'isymmetric heat conduction
model to investigate 0(dimensional nugget gro!th for different !elding current$ <$&
=han .0/ has used &B&>US code to develop an a'isymmetric finite element model
employing coupled thermal(electrical(mechanical analysis$ C$? Tsai .3/ has created a
6(dimensional a'isymmetric model using &NS:S to do some parametric studies on
the spot !elding process$
+. Model !evelopment
The spot !elding process is a complicated phenomena !hich involves the
mechanical thermal electrical and metallurgical factors$ &n a'isymmetric 6(
dimensional model !as developed using the University Edition &NS:S @$@ soft!are$
Since the entire schematic arrangement of the spot !elding process sho!n in )igure *
can "e modeled as an a'isymmetric model only one %uadrant of the model !as
constructed$ )igure 6 sho!s the 6(dimensional finite element model$
T!o types of analysis !ould "e carried out through this modelA a structural analysis
and a thermal(electric analysis$ The structural analysis !ould "e used to analy4e the
compressive stresses developed during the s%uee4e time and the thermal(electric
analysis !ill "e used to analy4e the nugget gro!th during !eld time through he
temperature distri"ution during the period$ )igure 0 sho!s the schematic illustration
of the computational procedure$
Figure 1: Spot welding process
+.% Material Properties
Bsotropic material properties of copper and car"on steel CBS *33D2 !as used for this
model$ The selected material properties are :oungEs Modulus -oissonEs ratio
material resistivity thermal conductivity specific heat and enthalpy$
+.& $oundar (onditions
The "oundary conditions for the model !as selected "ased on the !or; of 8$&
Nied.@/$ )igure for sho!s the "oundary conditions applied to the model$
,. -esults
,.% Mechanical analsis
& load of F$6NGmm
6
C6 "ar2 !as applied at the upper part of the finite element model as
sho!n in figure 3$ & static analysis !as carried out to find out stress distri"ution at the
electrodeGsheet interface and the sheetGsheet faying surfaces$ Radial displacement is
restricted along the centerline due to the model "eing a'isymmetric$ )igure @ sho!s the
result o"tained from this analysis$
Figure 2 FE model
COMPRESSIVE STREES DISTRIBUTION
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
0 1 2 3 4
Distance from centreline(mm)
S
t
r
e
s
s
electrode-sheet
interf ace
sheet-sheet interface

Bt !as found that the compressive stress
vary from the centerline of the model
to!ards the edges of the electrode and
the sheet metals$ Bt also found that the
stress distri"ution at the electrodeGsheet
interface is even higher than the
sheetGsheet faying surface$ )or a
pressure of 6'*F
@
-aC6"ar2 a ma'imum
stress of 6$3NGmm
6
!as achieved at the
edge of the electrode !hereas the
ma'imum stress at the sheetGsheet
interface is *$6NGmm
6
$ The results are similar to that of NiedHs.@/ even though his !or;
!as carried out on aluminum sheets$
Time step
Current electrode force material
properties and "oundary condition
Mechanical analysis
-?&NE36 structural element
Results1 *2 Compressive stress
62 Contact areas "et!een
interfaces
Thermal(electric analysis
-?&NEI, thermal(electric element
Results1 *2 Temperature distri"ution
62 Current density
distri"ution
02 Nugget formation
End of computation
Figure 3 Schematic illustration of analysis
J volts
Surface element
adia"atic condition
adia"atic
condition
- load
Figure 4: Boundary conditions
,.& .hermal-electric analsis
Even though the results of the thermal(electric results are not presented in this paper a
"rief e'planation on ho! this analysis !ould "e carried out is descri"ed "ased on the
literature revie!$ The element used in the structural analysis !ill "e replaced "y an
e%uivalent %uadrilateral thermal(electric solid element$ & transient analysis !ould "e
carried out "y applying a voltage that is e%uivalent to the !elding current across the
upper part of the electrode to the sheet$ The re%uired thermal properties of "oth copper
and steel are included in the finite element model$ The increase of nugget si4e as a
function of current !ill "e o"tained "ased upon the temperature distri"ution in the finite
element model$ )igure I sho!s the predicted isothermals and nugget shape$
$enefits of spot welding process modeling and simulation.
Testing of !eld %uality through tensile testing seems to "e an e'pensive process and most
industries are really trying to reduce the e'penses used for the testing process$
Guehdo4e.I/ in his !or; has also mentioned that using tensile testing to test the %uality
of the !eld i$e the !eld strength causes the outer edges of the nugget to tear and in turn
an inaccurate measurement of the developed !eld nugget diameter is produced$ By
developing a model of the !elding process the development of the nugget could "e
determined through the developed isotherms as sho!n in )igure I$ The diameter of the
nugget and the strength of the nugget could also "e estimated !ithout the need for any
testing process$ Developing the model of the spot !elding process could also help a
!elding engineer to produce !elding schedules and also help him to investigate !eld
nugget formation for a variety of materials to "e #oined$

*
6 0 3 @
I
,
+
*$ *@6F
F
C
6$ *00F
F
C
0$ **@F
F
C
3$ DI*
F
C
@$ ,,@
F
C
I$ @+0
F
C
,$ 3F0
F
C
+$ 6*I
F
C
Figure 6 sothermal and nugget shape
/. (onclusions
Development of a 6(dimensional a'isymmetric coupled thermal(electric(mechanical
finite element model of a spot !elding process !as descri"ed in this paper$ The develop
model !as used to analyse the s%uee4e cycle and the !eld cycle$ The result o"tained
from the s%uee4e cycle sho!s that the stress distri"ution varies from the centerline of the
model to!ards the edge of the electrode and the sheets$ The modeling of the !eld cycle
"ased on the availa"le literatures !as also loo;ed at$ Modeling of the spot !elding
process ena"les cost for !eld %uality testing to "e reduced and facilitates the
development of various !elding schedules$
0. -eferences
*$ 9$- Gupta and &mitava De &n improved numerical modeling for resistance spot
!elding process and its e'perimental verification <ournal of Manufacturing Science Jol
*6F pp 63I(6@* *DD+$
6$ -$S 7ei and C$: 8o &'isymmetric nugget gro!th during resistance spot
!elding &SME <ournal of 8eat Transfer Jol **6 No$6 pp 0FD(0*I *DDF$
0$ <$&$=han ?$Ku and :$< Chan -rediction of nugget development during
resistance spot !elding using coupled thermal(electric(mechanical model Science and
Technology in 7elding and <oining Jol$3 No$3 pp6F*(6F, *DDD$
3$ C$? Tsai 9$& <ammal and <$C -apritan Modeling of the resistance spot !elding
nugget gro!th 7elding <ournal$
@$ 8$& Nied )inite element modeling of a resistance spot !elding process 7elding
<ournal Jol$I0 No$3 pp*60(*06*D+3$
I$ Chei;h Guendou4e Computer assisted generation of parameters for resistance
spot !elding -hd Thesis University of Nottingham *DD@$