Özet:

Welding is widely used joining method of the steel sheets in many industry especially in automotive. Compared to the other welding processes, the method provides ease of handling, simple implementation, is suitable for automation, no need any filler material, and etc. Although the resistance spot welding is the most commonly known method and has been applied for a long time, the research studies have continued since it is used highly in automotive industry. In this study, the effects of process parameters of resistance spot welding on tensile properties were investigated by using finite element method. Current, compression force, and welding time are considered process variables. Nine different finite element analyses (FEA) were conducted based on the welding parameters and the joined steel sheets obtained from FEA were defined as input into tensile analysis. The welding simulations and tensile test analysis yielded the maximum weld diameter and maximum tensile force values, respectively. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) was also carried out to examine which welding parameter is more significant on the tensile properties and weld size. As a result, while tensile properties increase with the increase of current and welding time, the increase of compression force decreases the maximum tensile forces. The study also recommends empirical equations to predict the approximate values of the responses with minimum error.

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