Prediction of the Temperature Distribution During Friction Stir Welding (Fsw) With A Complex Curved Welding Seam: Application In The Automotive Industry

Abstract

Advanced welding of complex geometries promises significant development in the automotive industry. Friction Stir Welding (FSW) as a solid-state welding technique has spread quickly since its initial development by TWI in 1991. It has found applications in various industries, including railway, automotive, maritime and aerospace. Temperature during FSW plays a significant role, therefore thermal analysis of the process provides the opportunity to understand the process in detail, and also allows one to save energy and cost as well. However, experimental investigation of the thermal behaviour is challenging, because of inaccuracy in the measuring instruments. Thus, Finite Element Methods (FEMs) offer an appropriate approach for thermal modelling of the process. There is also a dilemma in defining the perpendicular movement of the tool on a curved surface. To clarify the problem, the tool needs to follow a regular pattern during curved movement, and it should have a perpendicular position to the surface at each point. However, previous literature modelled only a single point movement for the tool. Thus, the finite element package needs to be modified to develop a precise perpendicular movement for the tool. In this paper, a VDISP user defined subroutine is used to modify Abaqus® software for thermal analysis of a complex curved plate. The results of the paper show that the problem of the perpendicular movement of the tool is resolved and the thermal behaviour of the FSW is done with remarkable accuracy.

Progress in Thermomechanical Analysis of Friction Stir Welding

“…As mentioned earlier, plastic deformation and frictional force are two key sources for the heat generation [105]. Past studies [106,107] claimed that the maximum temperature in this process could reach up to 60%-80% of the melting temperature of the base material. Therefore, researchers [108][109][110] had adapted temperature-dependent material properties for simulating the FSW process.…”

“…The Lagrangian and the Eulerian methods are not advantageous for local-level analysis, because the divergence occurs inside the HAZ due to high material deformation and large mesh deformations, thus there is a necessity for continuously remeshing [99,100]. A suitable method for local-level analysis is the Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) as the mesh inside the domains are enabled to move promptly in order to optimize the shapes of the elements (Figure 7) [101].…”

“…These studies found that firstly the temperature increases smoothly (during heating), then decreases sharply (during cooling). It was mentioned that applying temperature-dependent material mechanical and thermal properties like density, Poisson ratio, Young's modulus, thermal conductivity, the coefficient of thermal expansion, specific heat capacity, friction coefficient and slip rate will highly increase the accuracy of the model [100,122].…”

A Framework to Simulate Friction Stir Additive Manufacturing (FSAM) Using the Finite Element Method

“…Other literature [13][14][15] noted that implementing an accurate friction model affects the accuracy of the results for friction-based solid state processes, because friction and plastic deformation are the two key sources of heat during the process [16][17][18][19]. Furthermore, defining an accurate and precise friction model for solid-state processes has always been considered a challenge.…”

Advanced Welding of Dissimilar Materials for Aerospace and Automotive Applications

“…The aviation and automotive sectors are characterised by dynamic requirements, which have spurred an ongoing quest for inventive approaches to attain portable, high-performance, as well as effective components [1]. The emphasis on integrating dissimilar materials in the design and manufacture of aerospace and automotive components has increased in order to tackle these issues.…”