Abstract
Due to the environmental problem, automotive companies are trying to reduce the weight of car body. Therefore, WP(Transformation Induced Plasticity) steels, which are hish strength and ductility have been developed. The application of TRIP steel to the members has been reported to increase the energy absorption capability. Welding process is a complex process; therefore deciding the optimal welding conditions is an effective method on the basis of the experimental data. However, using a trial-and-error method from the beginning in such a wide area, in order to decide the optimal conditions requires too many numbers of experiments. To overcome these problems and to decide the optimal conditions, response surface methodology was used. Response surface methodology is a collection of mathematical and statistical techniques that are for the modeling and analysis of problems in which a response of interest is influenced by several variables and the objective is to optimize this response. The introduced method was applied to the resistance spot welding process of the TRIP steel and the welding parameters were optimized. (Received December 6, 2002)
