Simulation on Temperature Field of Friction Stir Welding of 2A14 Aluminum Alloy Based on Equivalent Film Method

Abstract

Backing plate has an important influence on the temperature field of workpiece during the friction stir welding process. In order to predict the temperature field of workpiece accurately, a thermal-fluid coupled friction stir welding calculation model including workpiece and backing plate was developed. In the model, an equivalent film method was proposed to simplify the contact heat transfer between workpiece and backing plate to a heat conduction problem. The computational fluid dynamic software FLUENT was ultilized to simulate the friction stir welding process of 2A14 aluminum alloy. As a result, the steady-state temperature field during the friction stir welding process was predicted and analyzed. The welding process test was carried out to verify the simulation results of temperature field. The compared results show that the simulated temperature and the measured values of all measuring points are in good agreement. Using the simulation method proposed in this paper, the calculation accuracy of temperature field during the friction stir welding process could be relatively high and the maximum error is 4.61%. In addition, there is a good corresponding relationship between the temperature distribution and the various regions of weld cross section.