A thermal-plastic model of friction stir welding in aluminum alloy

A three-dimensional heat transfer model for friction stir welding is presented in this paper. A moving coordinate was introduced to reduce the difficulty of modeling the moving tool. Heat input from the tool shoulder and the tool pin were considered in the model. The plastic deformation heat was introduced into the model, too. It is clear that the heat production increased owing to plastic deformation, and this process depends on the stress level. Temperature measurement experiments were done to validate the calculated results. The calculated results were in good agreement with the experimental results. Preheating the workpiece is beneficial to obtain a good weld seam.