Investigation of the Friction Stir Welding Process Based on Numerical Modeling
By Alexander Maslennikov (ISF/RWTH Aachen), Uwe Reisgen (ISF/RWTH Aachen), Alexander Schiebahn (ISF/RWTH Aachen), Rahul Sharma (ISF/RWTH Aachen), Pascal Rabe (ISF/RWTH Aachen), Vladimir Erofeev (TSU/Tula/Russia)

The investigation of the stir zone (SZ) during friction stir welding regarding the formation of voids is currently conducted at the Welding and Joining Institute (ISF, RWTH Aachen). For this purpose, a numerical model of the viscous material flow is being developed and implemented into a computer program. The model allows the user to assess the influence of the main process parameters on the temperature field, viscoplastic flow velocities and pressure distributions in the SZ as well as the forces experienced by the tool pin. It can potentially be used for building the optimal process parameters windows, providing the void-free formation of the SZ.