Download: Brochure of SORPAS® Demo CD of SORPAS® 2D

"We have been using SORPAS® since 2001 and have made many innovative developments in resistance welding. We are now further extending the applications of simulation to process optimization for supporting production planning."  - Mr. Matthias Graul Volkswagen AG, Germany

SORPAS® is dedicated professional software for simulation and optimization of resistance welding processes. It has been specially developed for engineers by engineers. It doesn't need any prior knowledge in numerical simulations, but can be easily learned and used by engineers with knowledge of welding and materials. The integration of welding expertise with numerical techniques has made SORPAS® a unique and powerful tool for engineers directly working in industry.

The build-in material database in SORPAS® has included nearly all commonly used metal materials including all types of steels, aluminum alloys, titanium alloys, copper alloys, nickel based alloys, surface coating materials, pure metals and high melting metals such as tungsten and molybdenum etc. The users can also add their own materials. It is possible to simulate with dimensions of weld parts ranging from ordinary sizes in millimeters down to micro sizes in a fraction of micron with welding machines of all types of power sources including AC, DC, MFDC, inverter, and capacitor discharge.

Benefits:

• Reduce lead time / time to market
• Speed up production running-in
• Improve weld quality
• Increase production stability
• Facilitate innovation
• Modernize technology

 >  Numerous new inventions have been supported with SORPAS® simulations > 

Applications:

SORPAS® has been applied in various industries for solving problems in spot welding, projection welding, butt welding and micro resistance welding and supporting research and development as well as process parameter optimizations.

Evaluating weldability of materials Evaluating design of weld combinations Evaluating design of electrodes Inventing new applications More details of applications are described in industries.	Predicting weldability lobes and weld growth curves Optimizing process parameter settings Determining welding and cooling procedures Trouble shooting welding problems

Types of Licenses:

SORPAS® can be obtained in two types of license: special license or leased license. For special license, the user will pay an upfront license price for the first year and then a lower license fee from the second year. For leased license, the user will only pay for the specified period. One license means one installation of the software on one computer.

Software Editions:

In order to satisfy various requirements of individual users, three editions of SORPAS® are available as listed in the table below. The Enterprise Edition is with the automated procedures for process parameter optimizations including prediction of the weld growth curves and weldability lobes as well as verification of contact resistance, giving users the ultimate benefits to ensure before welding.

Explanation of the main functions:

• Graphic user interface for data input: include the New Input Wizard and the Data file editor for design of geometries and selection of materials (from integrated databases) for electrodes, weld parts and coatings, and settings of welding process parameters.
• Automatic mesh generation: automatically generate FEM mesh for spot welding and/or according to user defined number of elements and density distributions.
• Electrical model: calculates the current distribution and heat generation depending on types of weld current and materials of weld combinations.
• Thermal model (including optional metallurgical model): calculates the heat transfer, temperature development, materials properties changing with temperature, and weld nugget formation.
• Mechanical model: calculates the mechanical reactions including deformation of materials, evolution of contact areas at interfaces, stress and strain status depending on welding machine characteristics and dynamics.
• Graphic display of results: display of simulation results including curves of process parameters and animations of the evolution of variable (temperature, current etc.) distribution and development of the weld nugget shape and size in each material.
• Editor for databases: the user interface for editing (adding, removing and modifying) data in the three integrated databases for material properties, electrode forms and designs of workpieces.
• Build-in databases: three database are integrated in the software system including the material database with properties of most commonly used standard materials, the electrode database with most standard electrode forms (ISO 5821), and the workpiece database for retrievable design of weld parts.
• Single simulation: simulation of one specific welding process with specified electrode and material combinations, and given process parameter settings (weld current, force and time etc.).
• Batch simulation: run a batch of simulations following a list of predefined data files of different welding conditions or procedures for process optimization.
  Automated verification of contact resistance: automatically verify the contact resistance factors against a tested weld nugget for verifying data of new materials.
• Automated verification of contact resistance: automatically verify the contact resistance factors against a tested weld nugget size for verifying the data of new materials.
• Automated optimization of weld current: two optimization functions are implemented for optimization of the weld current. One is for automatically running a series of simulations according to user-defined range of weld current from a lower limit to a higher limit with a given increment, whereby the weld growth curve will be generated. The other one is for automatically running simulations to seek for the optimal weld current according to a targeted objective diameter of the weld nugget.
• Automated generation of weldability lobe: two types of the weldability lobes can be generated automatically following the procedures recommended in ISO 14327:2004, where two process parameters are varied. One type is to vary the weld current and time while keep weld force constant. The other type is to vary the weld current and force while keep the weld time constant. The splash limits are predicted and the weld ranges are indicated according to three reference weld nugget diameters (minimum, maximum and nominal) which are given by users.