3D Modeling & Finite Element Analysis of Friction Stir Welding Process

A 3D thermal pseudo mechanical model formulated in an Eulerian frame considering a quassi-steady approach to Friction Stir welding modeling is proposed and implemented using nonlinear finite element code in Comsol Multiphysics . In this numerical model the aluminum is treated as a highly viscous shear thinning liquid. A moving coordinate is introduced to reduce the difficulty of modeling the moving tool. A non-uniform grid mesh is generated for the calculation. Selected numerical predictions based on the model are shown to capture most of the features of corresponding experimental data available in literature.