Abstract
An incremental thermo-electrical-mechanical coupled finite element model has been developed for predicting the residual stress field in a 5754 aluminium alloy spot welded joint. The complete spot welding process, including squeezing, welding, holding and cooling cycles, as well as the temperature and stress histories during those cycles in the welded joint have been investigated. All the required thermo-physical and thermo-mechanical properties used were experimentally measured. The results show that tensile residual stress predominates the spot nugget area. The highest tensile residual stress, with a value close to the material's yield strength, occurs around the centre of the nugget. The residual stress value decreases slightly towards the edge of the spot nugget.
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