Modeling the Control of an Elevated Tool Temperature and the Affects on Axial Force During Friction Stir Welding

Abstract

A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model is used to simulate the control of the temperature of a friction stir welding (FSW) tool during the joining process. The CFD software package FLUENT was used to create the numerical model. The simulation was executed in a small cluster computing environment to improve the runtimes of the model. Within the model the FSW tool was elevated and maintained at a temperature higher than temperatures experienced during the FSW process. This paper examines the axial force associated with the FSW process when the tool is maintained at an elevated temperature. The FSW tool temperature in the model was optimized to reduce the axial force experienced by the tool during joining. Using the CFD model along with the DAKOTA software package from Sandia National Labs an optimal elevated tool temperature was found that reduced the axial load experienced by the FSW tool by 25%.