Finite element analysis of resistance spot welding process

A coupled finite element model is developed to analyze the transient thermal and mechanical behaviors of Resistance Spot Welding (RSW) process using commercial software ANSYS. A direct-coupled electrical-thermal Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is firstly performed to simulate the transient thermal characteristics of RSW process. The thermal history of the whole process and the temperature distribution of the weldment are obtained through the analysis. Then based on the thermal results a sequential coupled thermo-elastic-plastic analysis is conducted to determine the mechanical features of RSW process. The mechanical features, including the distributions of the contact pressure at both the faying surface and the electrode-workpiece interface, the stress and strain distributions in the weldment and their changes during the RSW process and the deformation of the weldment are also calculated.