The objective of this work is to establish an analytical model for heat generation by friction stir welding (FSW), based on different assumptions of the contact condition between the rotating tool surface and the weld piece. The material flow and heat generation are characterized by the contact conditions at the interface, and are described as sliding, sticking or partial sliding/sticking. Different mechanisms of heat generation are behind each contact condition, making this study important for further understanding of the real FSW process. The analytical expression for the heat generation is a modification of previous analytical models known from the literature and accounts for both conical surfaces and different contact conditions. Experimental results on plunge force and torque are used to determine the contact condition. The sliding condition yields a proportional relationship between the plunge force and heat generation. This is not demonstrated in the experiment, which suggests that the sticking contact condition is present at the tool/matrix interface.

The conditions under which the deposition process in friction stir welding is successful are not fully understood. However, it is known that only under specific thermomechanical conditions does a weld formation occur. If these conditions are not present, void formation will occur leading to a faulty weld. The objective of the present work is to analyse the primary conditions under which the cavity behind the tool is filled. For this, a fully coupled thermomechanical three-dimensional FE model has been developed in ABAQUS/Explicit using the arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian formulation and the Johnson–Cook material law. The model accounts for the compressibility by including the elastic response of the aluminium matrix. The contact forces are modelled by Coulomb's Law of friction, making the contact condition highly solution dependent. Furthermore, separation between the workpiece and the tool is allowed. This is often neglected in other models. Once non-recoverable separation is estimated by the model, a void develops. This is suggested as a preliminary criterion for evaluating the success of the deposition process. Of special interest is the contact condition along the tool/matrix interface, which controls the efficiency of the deposition process. In most models presented previously in the literature, the material flow at the tool interface is prescribed as boundary conditions. In all other contact models, the material is forced to keep contact with the tool. Therefore, the models are unable to predict when the suitable thermomechanical conditions and welding parameters are present. In the present work, the quasi-stationary thermomechanical state in the workpiece is established by modelling the dwell and weld periods. The different thermomechanical states in the colder, stiffer far-field matrix and the hotter, softer near-field matrix (under the tool) result in contact at the tool/matrix interface, thus, no void formation is observed. The steady-state model results are compared to the plunge force and heat generation observed in experimental welds in AA2024-T3.

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The increased usage of fiber reinforced polymer composites in load bearing applications requires a detailed understanding of the process induced residual stresses and their effect on the shape distortions. This is utmost necessary in order to have more reliable composite manufacturing since the residual stresses alter the internal stress level of the composite part during the service life and the residual shape distortions may lead to not meeting the desired geometrical tolerances. The occurrence of residual stresses during the manufacturing process inherently contains diverse interactions between the involved physical phenomena mainly related to material flow, heat transfer and polymerization or crystallization. Development of numerical process models is required for virtual design and optimization of the composite manufacturing process which avoids the expensive trial-and-error based approaches. The process models as well as applications focusing on the prediction of residual stresses and shape distortions taking place in composite manufacturing are discussed in this study. The applications on both thermoset and thermoplastic based composites are reviewed in detail.

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The objective of the present paper is to investigate the effect of including the tool probe in the numerical modelling of three-dimensional heat flow in friction stir welding (FSW). The heat flow close to the probe/matrix interface is investigated. In the models presented, the heat is forced to flow around the ‘probe hole’. In this manner, the material flow through the probe region, which often characterises other thermal models of FSW, is avoided. This necessitates controlling the convective heat flow by prescribing the velocity field in the narrow shear layer at the tool/matrix interface. As a consequence the sliding, sticking, or partial sliding/sticking condition can be modelled. Six cases are established, which are represented by three stages of refinement of the heat source model, combined with two different contact conditions, i.e. full sliding and full sticking.