Stiffness Analysis of Spot-weld Specimen in Finite Element and Experimental Comparison

Three typical finite element models (FEM) of spot-welds have been created as analysis objects, and the relationship between force and displacement of the specimens were obtained under shear and tensile forces through the elastic-plastic finite element analysis. Simulation results and the shear-tensile test curves of TG301L and SUS301L stainless steel specimens which were obtained based on JIS Z 3136 shear-tensile test methods were compared. The results showed that: No matter what type of nuclear simulation, stiffness of simulation models are less than the actual stiffness of the specimen; and when the specimen was stretched and sheared, with solid element to simulate the nugget can get maximum stiffness, it is most close to the actual stiffness, umbrella model is followed, and a stiff beam model is the worst.