Effects of pin angle and preheating on temperature distribution during friction stir welding operation

Friction stir welding (FSW) is applied extensively in industry for joining of nonferrous metals especially aluminum. A three-dimensional model based on finite element analysis was used to study the thermal characteristic of copper C11000 during the FSW process. The model incorporates the mechanical reaction of the tool and thermo-mechanical characteristics of the weld material, while the friction between the material and the probe and the shoulder serves as the heat source. It was observed that the predicted results about the temperature were in good compatibility with the experimental results. Additionally, it was concluded that the numerical method can be simply applied to measuring the temperature of workpiece just beneath the tool. The effects of preheating temperature and pin angle on temperature distribution were also studied numerically. The increase of pin angle enhances the temperature around the weld line, but preheating does not affect temperature distribution along the weld line considerably.