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Detailed three-dimensional nonlinear thermal and thermo-mechanical analyses are carried out using the finite element welding simulation code––WELDSIM [Chao et al., In: Advances in Computational & Engineering Science, vol. II, Tech Science Press: Paledale, USA: 2000. pp. 1206–1211]. The objective is to investigate the effect of each temperature-dependent material property on the transient temperature, residual stress and distortion in computational simulation of welding process. Welding of an aluminum plate using three sets of material properties, namely, properties that are functions of temperature, room temperature values, and average values over the entire temperature history in welding, are considered in the simulation. Results show that (a) the thermal conductivity has certain effect on the distribution of transient temperature fields during welding, (b) the yield stress and Young's Modulus have …