INTERNATIONALJOURNALOFAPPLIEDENGINEERINGRESEARCH,DINDIGUL

Volume1,No 3,2010
Copyright2010AllrightsreservedIntegratedPublishingAssociation
RESEARCHARTICLE

ISSN 09764259

FiniteElementAnalysisofresistancespotweldingtostudynugget
formation
Thakur.A.G1,Rasane.A.R2,Nandedkar.V.M3
1MechanicalEnggDepartment,SRES'sCollegeofEngineering,Kopargaon,423603,India
2 MechanicalEnggDepartment,PuneVidyarthiGriha'sCollegeofEngineering,Nasik,
Maharashtra,India
3ProductionEnggDepartment,ShriS.G.G.S.InstituteofEngineering&Technology,
Nanded,431606,India
ramolr2003@yahoo.co.in
ABSTRACT
ResistanceSpotWeldingisbeingusedintheindustryforsheetjoiningprocessespeciallyin
the automobile and aerospace industry. The complicated behavior of this process must be
analysedtosettheoptimumparameterstogettheoptimumweldquality.Thispaperpresents
the FEA simulation of the RSW process. It requires modelling of complex interactions
between electrical, thermal, metallurgical and mechanical phenomena. A 2D axisymmetric
FEMmodelhasbeendevelopedtoanalysethetransientthermalbehaviorsofprocessusing
ANSYS software and coupled structuralthermoelectric analysis is performed by using
advancedcoupledfieldelementPLANE223tosimulatethethermalcharacteristicsofRSW
process.Theobjectivesofthisanalysisistounderstandphysicsoftheprocessandtodevelop
a predictive tool reducing the number of experiments for the optimization of welding
parameters.
Keywords:RSW,CoupledAnalysis,weldnugget,Temperaturedistribution
1.Introduction
Resistanceweldingisthemostcommonlyusedmethodforjoiningsteelsheets.Anelectro
conductive contact surface is created between the work pieces by pressing them together.
Watercooled electrodes made of alloyed copper are used in resistance welding. Electrodes
convey a pressing force to the joint and direct the welding current to the joint in an
appropriate manner. After welding, the electrodes rapidly cool down the welded joint.
Resistance spot welding is a complex process in which coupled interactions exist between
electrical,thermal,mechanical,metallurgicalphenomenaandevensurfacebehaviors.Inthe
recent years, finite element method has provided a powerful tool in studying these
interactionsandmanyrelatedworkshavebeencarriedoutontheFEMmodellingofRSW.
NieddevelopedthefirstFEAmodelforRSWprocess,investigatedtheeffectofthegeometry
of electrode on workpiece and predicted the deformation and stresses as a function of
temperature.Furthermore,manyresearchersdevelopedmoresophisticatedFEAmodelsthat
considered temperature dependent material properties, contact status, phase changing and
coupled field effects into the simulation of RSW. To solve the coupled problem, iterative
solutionprocedureisanoftenadoptedmethod.Initiallythestressfieldandcontactstatusare
obtained from the thermalmechanical analysis and then the temperature field is obtained
fromthefullycoupledthermalelectricalanalysisbasedonthecontactareaattheelectrode
workpieceinterfaceandfayingsurface.Thecalculatedtemperaturefieldisthenpassedback

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Copyright2010AllrightsreservedIntegratedPublishingAssociation
RESEARCHARTICLE

ISSN 09764259

tothethermalstructuralanalysistoupdatethestressfieldandcontactstatus.Theobjectiveof
this paper is to develop a multicoupled method to analyse the thermal and mechanical
behaviors of RSW process, reduce the computing time with the minimum loss of accuracy
andgetmoreadequateinformationoftheprocess.
1.1SpotWeldingCycle
Figure 1 shows the spot welding process. The RSW process consists of four stages as
followsa)Squeezecycletimeduringwhichtheupperelectrodeisbroughtincontactwith
thesheetsandaforceisexertedattheregionthatneedstobewelded.b)Weldcycletime
during which current is turned on and resistance to current flow at the sheet interface
producesanugget.c)Holdcycletimeduringwhichthecurrentisturnedoffandthefully
grownnuggetisallowedtocoolandsolidify slowlyunderconstantpressure.d)Offcycle
time during which the electrode is raised from the welded sheets. Watercooled electrodes
madeofalloyedcopperareusedinresistancewelding.Afterwelding,theelectrodesrapidly
cooldowntheweldedjoint.The3mainweldingparametersare:a)currentb)forceandc)
weldtime.Alltheseparametersneedtobecontrolledeffectivelyinordertoproduceagood
qualityweld.
2.FiniteElementAnalysis
2.1.FEAmodelandmesh
FEA model of RSWprocess is shown in Fig 3 and 4, which is axisymmetric about y axis
sinceonlyhalfportionofthecompletemodelisanalysed.Thexaxisisthecontactsurfaceof
the two sheets called as faying surface. The model is meshed using three elements
PLANE223, CONTA172 AND TARGE169. The element PLANE223 with structural
thermoelectric capabilities has eight nodes with upto fourdegrees of freedomper node. It
has UX, UY, TEMP and VOLT degrees of freedom. The other elements are contact
elementsconsistingofcontactpairofCONTA172andTARGE169.Contactoccurswhenthe
element surface penetrates one of the target segment elements (TARGE169)ona specified
target surface. Any translational or rotational displacement, forces, moments, temperature,
voltageandmagneticpotentialcanbeimposedonthetargetsegmentelement.[6] [7]
2.2.Materialmodelsandweldingconditions
Temperature varying properties are considered for copper electrode and mild steel sheets.
Thepropertiesassignedarethermalconductivity,resistivity,Youngsmodulus,coefficientof
thermal expansion, yield stress, specific heat and contact resistivity. These temperature
dependent properties are assigned in the range of 21C to 1204C [4]. In modelling RSW
process with the complicated thermoelectric behavior, several physical phenomena must be
considered. It is of great importance to define the parameters correctly to obtain correct
results. Since electric current has great influence on the quality of RSW process, the input
currentinthissimulationis50HzsinewaveACcurrentof10kA,appliedfor200ms.The
currentisimposedasanelectricloadonthetopsurfaceofupperelectrode.Tosimulatethe
coolingprocessofthewelding,theholdtimeistakenas60ms.Aforceof3000Nisapplied
on the upper electrode which is equivalent tothepneumatic pressure appliedon the sheets.
The most important property in the simulation of RSW process is the contact resistivity of

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fayingsurface.Tosimplifytheproblem,thecontactresistivityisconsideredasafunctionof
temperature.

Figure1:Spotweldingprocess

Figure2:FEAmodelofRSWprocess

Figure3: MeshoftheFEAmodel
2.3.Boundaryconditions
Figure 4 shows the boundary conditions imposed for the analysis. The upper face of top
electrodeandlowerfaceofbottomelectrodeareconstrainedinxandydirections.Avoltage
differenceisappliedacrossthetopfaceofupperelectrodeandbottomfaceoflowerelectrode.
The convection coefficient of air (21 W/m2 C) is applied on faces of electrode and sheet
whichareopentoenvironment.Theconvectioncoefficientofwater(300W/m2 C)isapplied
ontheinnerfacesofelectrodeswhichareincontactwiththecirculatingcoolingwaterwith
initialtemperatureof10C[5].
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3.Resultsanddiscussions
The FEM model is employed to simulate the RSW process in order to quantitatively
understandthe effects of theprocess parameterson temperaturedistribution and the nugget
sizeatdifferentcycles.ThestressandstrainfieldsintheweldmentduringtheRSWprocess
areverycomplexduetothecombinationoftemperatureandelectrodeforce.Atthesqueeze
stage,theelectrodesandworkpiecesaredeformedundertheapplicationof theload.

Figure4: Boundaryconditions

Figure5:DistributionofVonMisesstressduringsqueezestage
Figure.5 shows the Von Mises stress distributionafter the squeezing stage. The maximum
stress (281 MPa.) occurs at the edge of the contact surface between the electrode and the
work piece. The contact pressure on the WE interface is fairly uniformly in the majority
aroundtheaxisandinthedomainneartheelectrodeedge,thereisseverestressconcentration.
The welding residual stress is produced in welded joint as a result of plastic deformation
caused by nonuniform thermal expansion and contraction due to nonuniform temperature

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ISSN 09764259

distributionintheweldingprocess.Thedeformationattheendofholdstepisextremelylarge
thanthatofthesqueezestep.ThismeansmuchdeformationisproducedintheRSWprocess
duetothethermalexpansion.Fig6showsthetemperatureprofileandnuggetgrowthatthe
time when nugget start to form. At the start of the welding process, the temperature at the
centeroffayingsurfaceincreasesveryfast.Thehighesttemperatureremainsatthecenterof
the faying surface throughout the whole welding process. Melting first occur at the faying
surfaceandthenexpandtothematerialnearit.Duetotheresistanceofferedtotheflowof
currentatthefayingsurfaces,Jouleheatisgeneratedatthissurfaceswhichisgreaterthanthe
heatgeneratedatotherpointsontheweldsurfaces.Thenuggetisformedinthe10thcycleof
the welding process assuming 1530 C as the melting point of mild steel. The spot nugget
regionappearsasredincolor.Theweldnugget isclosetotheellipticalshape.Thehighest
temperaturealwaysremains inthemiddleofthe workpieceandthetemperatureaway form
the faying surface decreasesdue to transferof heatby convection of air and cooling water.
By changing the welding conditions, the temperature profile could be varied which in turn
changesthenuggetsizei.e.theweldingquality.Duringtheholdingtimeinwhichthecurrent
is set to zero, convection and squeezing forces are only external loads in the thermo
mechanicalmodel.Thefinalnuggetsizeisobtainedattheendofholdingtimebecausethere
is some deformation in the welding zone when the weldment cools due to the electrode
pressureandmaterialshrinkage.Astheelectriccurrentceasesat0.3s,theweldmentstartsto
cool down. In a very short time, the temperature of the nugget center decreases. The
temperature at the center of electrodeworkpiece interface decreases more slowly but
continuously.Fig7showsthetemperaturedistributionattheendoftheholdperiodi.e.after
theweldcurrentisswitchedoff.

Figure6:Temperaturedistributionatthetimenuggetstartedtoform

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Figure7: Temperaturedistributionattheendofholdtime

Figure8:Temperaturevariationalongthefayingsurface

Figure9: Temperaturevariationalongtheworkpieceelectrodeinterface

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Figure10: DistributionofVonmisesstressesalongthefayingsurface

Figure11:Variationofnuggetdiameterwithtemperature
The size of the weld nugget decreases slightly as compared to the size at the end of weld
cycle. This is because the heat generationisstoppeddue to switching off the weld current.
Also there is convective heat transfer from the heated surfaces of the sheets and the
electrodes. Figure 8 shows the temperature variation along the contact surfaces of the two
mild steel sheets i.e. faying surface. In the first stage of the process, since only force is
applied on the surfaces, there is no heat generation and hence the temperature remains
constant.Afterthecurrentispassedthroughtheelectrodes,thereisgenerationofheatdueto
Joule effect and the temperature at the contact surfaces starts increasing. The temperature
keeps on increasing till the time current flows through the electrodes. The maximum
temperatureof1559Cisobtainedattheendof10th weldcycle.Afterthistime,thecurrentis
switchedoffandthereisdecreaseintemperatureduetolossofheatbyconvectionofairand
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coolingwater.Attheendofholdperiod,thetemperaturereachedis842C.Figure9shows
thevariationoftemperaturealongtheworkpiecesheetinterface.Thenuggetsizeobtainedis
2.75mm.Figure10showsthedistributionofVonmisesstressalongthefayingsurfaceand
Figure 11showsthevariationofnuggetdiameterwithtemperature.
4.Conclusion
A multicoupled structural thermoelectric analysis is carried out on the RSW process. This
multicoupledmethodcanefficientlyprovidesufficientdetailsofRSWprocessandincrease
thequalitymonitoringandprocesscontrolofRSW.Duetothecombinationoftemperature
andelectrodeforce,thestressandstrainfieldsareverycomplexintheweldment.Duringthe
welding cycles there is compressive stress in the contact area of faying surface, which is
helpful for good metallurgical structure, forming a condensed weld nugget. Through the
thermalhistoriesandtemperaturedistributionsobtainedfromthisanalysis,thegeometryand
dimensionsofthenuggetcanbecalculated.
5.References
1. GuoZhong,Finiteelementanalysisofresistancespotweldingprocess,9781
424427239/09,2009ChineseControlandDecisionConference(CCDC2009),P
57995802.
2. Vural,A.Akkus,B.Eryurek,Effectofweldingnuggetdiameteronthefatigue
strengthoftheResistancespotweldedjointsofdifferentsteelsheets,Journalof
MaterialsProcessingTechnology,176(2006)127132
3. H.Zhigang,I.S.Kim,J.S.Son,H.H.Kim,J.H.Seo,K.C.Jang,D.K.Lee,J.M.
Kuk,Astudyonnumericalanalysisoftheresistancespotweldingprocess,Vol
14,Issue12,Journalofachievementsinmaterialsandmanufacturingengineering,
JanuaryFebruary2006.
4. Hou Zhigang, Wang Yuanxun, Li Chunzhi, Chen Chuanyao, A multicoupled
finite element analysis of resistance spot welding process, Acta Mechanica
SolidaSinica,Vol.19,No.1,March,2006.
5. Hamid Eisazadeh , Mohsen Hamedi, Ayob Halvaee, New parametric study of
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JournalofMaterialsanddesign,Elsevier,31(2010)149157.
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elementanalysisforthemechanicalfeaturesofresistancespotweldingprocess,
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