| Abstract Scope |
Resistance spot welding (RSW) plays a crucial role in contemporary industry, especially in the automotive sector, due to its ability to join metal sheets quickly, efficiently, and without the need for additional material. However, the appropriate choice of process and welding parameters is essential to ensure the quality and reliability of joints, especially when dealing with advanced high strength steels (AHSS). These materials, due to their complex microstructure, present specific challenges during the welding process, since the resulting properties of the fusion zone and heat-affected zones in RSW are required to provide consistent performance. Therefore, the objective of this work is to use a two-dimensional axisymmetric finite element (FEM) modeling to investigate the influence of RSW parameters on the welding quality of an AHSS joint. Computational simulation allowed the parameterization of the process and the variation of the boundary conditions, allowing the investigation of the impact of thermal, electrical and mechanical effects on the process. The results obtained demonstrated the influence of current parameters, lens size and time, in which process characteristics were explained, comparing the numerical model with experiments. The analysis of the fusion zone revealed that the current intensity, welding time and electrode tip geometry have an influence on the size, shape and temperature distributions. It is noteworthy the potential of simulation as a tool for the study and development of RSW in AHSS, avoiding the need for expensive experimental processes. Thus, it becomes possible to predict the behavior of the material during welding, optimize process parameters and explore new welding configurations. This advance contributes to the production of high-quality and reliable welded joints in critical components |