Numerical analysis of effect of coolant on the transient temperature in underwater friction stir welding of Al6061-T6

Abstract

Underwater friction stir welding is an alternative method to improve the mechanical properties of the weldments by controlling the temperature level. Owing to the limitation of temperature measurement in practice, the finite element modeling is the best tool to investigate the process. It is still not clearly known as to what extent the temperature field of joint is influenced by operational parameters in underwater friction stir welding. In this paper, finite element modeling of friction stir welding in the air and underwater were performed for Al6061-T6 alloys to control the thermal cycles. In addition to cooling effect, the influence of welding speed and rotational speed on the maximum temperature in workpiece was investigated. For this purpose, three-dimensional modeling has been done with ANSYS. The model results were then examined by experimental data, and a reasonable agreement was observed. It is found that due to water cooling effect, heat is dissipated in faster rate which leads to low peak temperature in underwater welding compared to normal welding in air, while such relationship was not seen in high welding speeds. The reason is that at high welding speeds, workpiece temperature decreases, and region of boiling water in underwater welding is reduced. This causes that heat will be dissipated from workpiece surface in faster rate. Tool rotational speed has significant effect on thermal cycles than welding speed. Moreover, in normal friction stir welding, the peak temperature diminishes with respect to welding speed in faster manner in comparison with welding in underwater.