Friction Stir Welding of an Aluminum Plate

Application ID: 461


In friction stir welding, a rotating tool moves along the weld joint and melts the aluminum through the generation of friction heat. The tool’s rotation stirs the melted aluminum such that the two plates are joined.

In this model, two aluminum plates are joined by generating friction heat with a rotating tool. Heat is transferred by conduction from the tool into the plates. The movement of the tool is taken into account using a convective heat flux term. The plate surfaces are cooled through free convection and surface-to-ambient radiation.

This model example illustrates applications of this type that would nominally be built using the following products: