| The questions below are frequently asked by guests to our website
and customers at meetings. If you don't find your question answered
here or you have more comments, please feel free to forward your
questions or comments to us.
Q: What does the name SORPAS® stand for?
A: SORPAS® is an abbreviation of the main functions
of the software, which stands for
Simulation and
Optimization of
Resistance
Projection
And
Spot welding processes.
Q: I am a welding engineer. Can I learn to use SORPAS®?
A: Yes. It is our objective to provide a handy
software tool directly for engineers to use in industry. With our
training programme, it takes only one or two days for engineers
to learn SORPAS®. Some users have even started using SORPAS®
on their own. Experiences have also shown that it is more essential
to have welding knowledge for making realistic simulations than
to have only knowledge in numerical modeling.
Q: How much time does it take with the training course
to learn SORPAS®?
A: Usually one day of training is sufficient for
users who have knowledge both in welding and in numerical simulations.
However, we recommend that it is more effective for industrial users
to have a two day training course. The first day is mainly an introduction
of theoretical foundations and some exercises with standard examples.
On the second day, the users can have hands-on exercises with simulations
of their own welding problems. In this way, the users can easily
continue with the simulations from the training and quickly start
simulations with their real welding problems.
Q: What is the difference between SORPAS® and other
FEM software packages?
A: SORPAS® is dedicated FEM software that has
been tailor-made for resistance welding. It has been developed by
engineers for engineers directly to use in industry. All necessary
numerical functions have been solved and integrated automatically
with the welding expertise inside the software. Users will not need
to bother with the numerical problems but only to deal with the
welding related parameters. The simulation results have also been
customized with graphical displays of the phenomena and parameters
related to resistance welding. SORPAS® can be characterized
more as welding software than FEM software.
Q: Can I simulate spot welding of multiple sheets of different
materials with different thicknesses?
A: Yes. There is practically no limit to how many
materials can be simulated/welded in SORPAS® provided that the
materials are available in the database. Most of the commonly used
standard and new materials are already included in the built-in
database including steels, stainless steels, aluminium alloys, electrode
materials and surface coatings etc. If a material is not already
in the database, it can be added directly by the user or by us.
The user is also free to decide the number of sheets as well as
the thickness/material of each sheet in the weld combination.
Q: Can I simulate different forms and different materials
of electrodes?
A: Yes. SORPAS® is flexible in this respect.
It is easy to design the shape of electrodes and select different
materials for them. There is a database of electrode forms integrated
in SORPAS® which has already included most of the standard forms.
Users can also add their own electrode designs into this database.
Q: Can I simulate AC as well as DC weld currents?
A: Yes. SORPAS® is designed with a graphical
user interface for welding process parameter settings similar to
the numerically controlled welding machines. It is free for users
to choose the type of weld current including AC, DC, MFDC (Inverter)
or condensator discharge, as well as define the profile of the weld
current such as up-slope, down-slope and impulses, as well as conduction
angle in AC.
Q: Can I simulate electric servo guns with programmable
regulated welding force?
A: Yes. In SORPAS®, the welding force can be
specified as a function of time with any user-defined profile. It
is thus possible to simulate and optimize the profile of servo controlled
welding force according to the desired welding results.
Q: How much time does it take to prepare a simulation?
A: If the materials and the electrode forms are
available in the databases, it takes less than 10 minutes to prepare
a new simulation for spot welding. If the technical drawing of a
special electrode is available, it takes a few minutes to add the
electrode design into the database. It may take some more time for
preparing complicated projection welding simulations depending on
the complexity of the geometry of parts, but usually it takes less
than an hour.
Q: How much computation time does it take to run a simulation?
A: It depends on the type of welding problems and
the speed of the computer used for the simulation. With regard to
the computer, the speed of the CPU has the largest influence on
the computation time. A large part of the computation time is spent
for simulating the dynamic mechanical reactions, such as deformation
and contact area evolution. Thus, spot welding simulations normally
take less time than projection welding simulations. On a computer
with a 3GHz CPU, it normally takes between a few minutes to half
an hour for spot welding simulations. For a complicated projection
welding problem with large deformation and dynamic contact area
evolution, it may take several hours to complete.
In general, most of the simulation and the optimization tasks can
be completed within one day or over one night. This is the unique
advantage of SORPAS® to support quick decision making in industry.
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