A fully coupled thermo-mechanical numerical modelling of the refill friction stir spot welding process in Alclad 7075-T6
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(2020) 20:117
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
A fully coupled thermo‑mechanical numerical modelling of the refill friction stir spot welding process in Alclad 7075‑T6 aluminium alloy sheets Andrzej Kubit1 · Tomasz Trzepiecinski2 Received: 23 March 2020 / Revised: 7 July 2020 / Accepted: 18 September 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Refill friction stir spot welding (RFSSW) is a solid state joining technology that has the potential to replace processes such as the open-air fusion bonding technique and rivet technology in aerospace applications. Selection of proper RFSSW parameters is a crucial task which is important to ensure the mechanical strength of the joint. The aim of this paper is to undertake numerical modelling of the RFSSW process to understand the physics of the welding process, which involves large deformations, complex contact conditions and steep temperature gradients. Three-dimensional fully coupled thermomechanical models of RFSSW joints between Alclad 7075-T6 aluminium alloy sheets have been built in the finite-elementbased program Simufact Forming. The simulation results included the temperature distribution and the stress and strain distributions in the overlap joint. The results of numerical computations have been compared with experimental ones. The numerical model was able to predict the mechanics of material flow during the joining of sheets of Alclad aluminium alloys using RFSSW. The predictions of the temperature gradient in the weld zone were in good agreement with the temperature measured experimentally. The numerical models that have been built are capable of simulating RFSSW to reduce the number of experiments required to set optimal welding parameters. Keywords Alclad · Aluminium alloy · Mechanical engineering · Friction stir welding · FSSW
1 Introduction Refill friction stir spot welding (RFSSW) is a solid-state joining technology which was developed in Germany in 2002 by GKSS-GmbH [1] as a variety of conventional friction stir spot welding (FSSW). In RFSSW technology, the rotational tool consists of an external stationary holder and rotary elements (pin and sleeve) designed to plasticise the material to be joined using friction. The construction of the tool allows independent vertical movement of the pin and sleeve. This allows the production of spot welds without an exit hole. The basic advantage of RFSSW is to replace * Tomasz Trzepiecinski [email protected] 1
Department of Manufacturing and Production Engineering, Rzeszow University of Technology, Al. Powst. Warszawy 8, 35‑959 Rzeszow, Poland
Department of Materials Forming and Processing, Rzeszow University of Technology, Al. Powst. Warszawy 8, 35‑959 Rzeszow, Poland
2
mass-adding fastening processes, such as screwing or riveting. So, RFSSW has great potential in the automotive, shipbuilding and aerospace industries. Moreover, this technology can join dissimilar materials which are difficult to join using fusion welding due to different thermal expansion coefficients and melting points. An understanding of the physical and m
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