Analyses based on FEM calculations have significantly changed the possibilities of determining welding strains and stresses at early stages of product design and welding technology development. Such an approach to design enables obtaining significant savings in production preparation and post-weld deformation corrections and is also important for utility properties of welded joints obtained. As a result, it is possible to make changes to a simulated process before introducing them into real production as well as to test various variants of a given solution. Numerical simulations require the combination of problems of thermal, mechanical and metallurgical analysis. The study presented involved the SYSWELD software-based analysis of MIG welded butt joints made of 5251 aluminium alloy sheets. The analysis of strains and the distribution of stresses were carried out for several different cases of fixing elements and for different times of releasing elements welded.