Computational Fluid Dynamics based Transient Thermal Analysis of Friction Stir Welding

Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is a solid-state welding process that uses a rotating and translating tool to weld two materials together. The current study has been carried out in order to simulate the complex flow phenomena associated with FSW with much more realistic modelling. For this purpose, dynamic mesh has been used to simulate the translational motion of the tool, whereas sliding mesh technique has been employed to mimic the rotation of the tool. Temperature distribution within the materials being welded together has been critically analysed, and the predicted results have been verified against published experimental measurements of the same. The influence of the tool pin size on the temperature distribution has been investigated. It has been shown that the modelling technique adopted in the current study predicts the material flow and thermal distribution within the weld with reasonable accuracy.