Ensure before welding™				"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
		Three-sheets spot welding of 1 mm TRIP steel  and 2 x 2 mm mild steel with three-pulsed AC.

SORPAS® is dedicated professional software for simulation and optimization of resistance welding. It is specially developed for engineers by engineers. The integration of welding expertise with numerical techniques has made SORPAS® a unique and powerful tool for engineers directly to use in industry.

SORPAS® can be learned quickly and used easily by engineers working with materials and welding processes.

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

Download: Brochure of SORPAS® in PDF (4.1MB).

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

Predicting weldability lobes and weld growth curves  Optimizing process parameter settings Determining welding and cooling procedures Trouble shooting welding problems

More details are described in applications.

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.

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 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 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.

We recommend all new users to take the training course on fundamentals and applications of SORPAS® including hands-on exercises with practical simulations. The standard training course takes one day or two days. It helps users to quickly start working with simulations. With the two days training course, the users can work with their own welding applications. Please contact us or our distributors about the cost and arrangement of the training course.