Thermo-mechanical Analysis of Friction Stir Welding: A Review on Recent Advances

Abstract

In recent studies, critical research interest exists in the thermo-mechanical analysis of the friction stir welding (FSW) process by numerical simulation. In this review, the thermo-mechanical analysis for FSW is overviewed regarding the computational approaches, the heat generation, the temperature, and the material flow behavior. Current concerns, challenges, and opportunities in current studies are discussed considering the application of the thermo-mechanical analysis. Generally, larger computational scale and better computational efficiency are required to allow better spatial resolution in future analysis. The concepts and approaches demonstrated in the thermo-mechanical analysis for FSW open up quantitative prospects for the design of the FSW process.

Flow Stress of 6061 Aluminum Alloy at Typical Temperatures during Friction Stir Welding Based on Hot Compression Tests

“…Flow stress at the welding temperature, which determines the viscosity, is one of the physical factors that govern the momentum transfer and mass transfer in plastic flow during FSW. Due to the complexity of the problem, computer simulation [16,17] has been the major approach for investigating the in-process plastic flow pattern during FSW. Because of the critical role that the material flow plays, reliable quantitative models for predicting the flow stress at high temperatures are generally desired as a part of the material model in the simulation of FSW processes.…”

Progress in Thermomechanical Analysis of Friction Stir Welding

“…During FSW, the extreme mesh distortion would cause the crashing of the calculation if the typical Lagrangian domain employs. Hence, it is crucial to choose the right technology/approach to manage the extreme mesh (2020) 33:12 distortion formed by the severe plastic deformation to carry out a thermomechanical analysis of FSW based on CSM [9][10][11]. The present literature demonstrates a few favorable approaches to manage distortion of the mesh.…”

“…For CFD based analyses the values of 0.1 to 0.2 mm were reported [40,41]. Based on the recent publications, it can be seen that there is a significant change for the microstructure almost 0.1 mm away from the stirring zone [9,42]. Therefore the mesh size should be equal or less than 0.1 mm.…”

“…Presented CFD-based FSW analysis permits the improvement of the spatial resolution, hence much complicated geometrical features can be simulated by CFD based models [32]. Whereas, the mean stress also called the forecast pressure has more ambiguity in the CFD based analyses, due to the negligence of elasticity [9]. It is obvious that, rising the element numbers rises the time taken to perform the calculations.…”

A Modified Friction Stir Welding Process Based on Vortex Material Flow

“…The current welding technologies based on friction generally utilize the friction between the workpieces (such as rotary friction welding, and linear friction welding) [1] or between workpiece and tool (such as friction stir welding) [2][3][4][5] to generate heat to soften the material and form plastic material flow. In this way, the original interface between the workpieces is broken to form an effective joint.…”