Thermal Analysis of Friction Stir Welding Process Under Different Control and Energy Parameters

Friction Sir Welding (FSW) process is a solid state welding technology which is widely used in manufacturing field for joints of many types of same or dissimilar materials such as aluminum alloys, magnesium alloys and steels and so on. In addition, FSW process is also a complex process associated with heat transfer, plastic deformation, grain recrystallization and material property changing phenomenon. It is commonly known that the thermal condition or the temperature distribution of space and time is important to the final welding condition. However, due to the limitation of experiment measurement and the unfinished work of numerical heat transfer model, the relationship between thermal condition and control parameters still remains a question. In this work, a new numerical model based on energy analysis and finite element method is built to calculate the thermal field of FSW process. The energy generation due to plunge depth and the converting coefficient of friction energy to heat are considered in the model. The effects of energy distribution of both sides, energy efficiency of friction, plunge depth, normal force, traverse speed and rotation speed on the temperature distribution of FSW process are investigated.