Finite Element Modeling and Parametric Investigation of Friction Stir Welding (FSW)

Abstract

Difficulty in welding of Aluminium alloy through conventional technique and requirement of light weight welded structure for the aerospace, marine and industry application led to the development of novel welding technique i.e., Friction Stir welding. Friction stir enabled additive manufacturing proved to be a solution to repair aluminium alloys used for aerospace and defence industries. In the present work, FEM model is established for the Friction stir welding analysis and results are confirmed with the experimental study. Arbitrary Eulerian Lagrangian(ALE) approach is used for the computational system to avoid large distortions in mesh around the tool. Three-dimensional nonlinear thermal numerical simulations are performed using Altair Hyper Weld Friction Stir Welding (FSW) tool for the joint of AA6061 (aluminium alloy) material plates. Thermal solutions are considered for the Welding process simulation. Furthermore, influence of various process parameters on welding of AA6061 aluminium alloys is investigated to enhance the material properties. Translation, and rotational spindle speed are the process variables considered for the study. Analysis conclude that temperature in the FSW process is symmetrically distributed along the welding line. Increase in Rotational Speed increases the Peak temperature whereas, increase in Translation speed results slight decrease in Peak Temperature. The numerical simulations obtained and validated are proposed to illustrate the accuracy of the presented methodology and its potential to study real Friction Stir welding processes. Altair’s Hyper Weld Friction Stir Welding module proved to be potential tools for the analysis of friction stir welded joints.