Numerical analysis of temperature distributions in friction stir welding of steel plates

Residual stresses or locked-in stresses are one of the most significant mechanisms that are generated in almost all the welding processes. During the Friction Stir Welding (FSW) process the generated heat can cause microstructure variation leading to the chang in the material properties. Furthermore, the resulting residual stresses may cause deformation in the welded component or structure. During the operation, the residual stresses also have a significant contribution to the total stress field acting in the structure and hence the component performance. In the current research, numerical analysis is conducted to get insight of the temperature distribution of the complicated FSW process of steel plates. The numerical model can also help in temperature prediction for the design purpose

Keywords:

Friction stir welding , finite element method , residual stress