Comparative study of thermal modelling using Eulerian and SPH techniques for FSW

Heat is the fundamental requirement to join materials using Friction Stir Welding. This heat is a fraction of the total axial force applied on the workpiece, generated due to the inherent friction between the contact faces (shoulder and workpiece). Much research has been attempted to study the heat and material flow behaviour employing Finite element modelling techniques such as Eulerian and SPH respectively. To access the workflow, Altair Radios and Abaqus solvers were employed. However, due to the innate nature of the process, excessive mesh distortion due of severe plastic deformation during the modelling phase of the simulation was observed. This severe mesh distortion is fixed using SPH technique and is compared to that of the Eulerian technique for better understanding the temperature plot in FSW. Thermo-mechanical behaviour is explored using the finite element method in this study. The welding temperature obtained is in the range of 571°C with a total error of 7% which agrees with the estimated prediction of 75-85% of the melting point of the welding material. Observations were made showing depicting the influence of rotational speed, transverse speed, and temperature. Finally, these results were compared with that of experimental values, ensuring the results were accurate.