Finite element study of 3D simulated welding effect in aluminium plates

Abstract

The effects of metal inert gas (MIG) welding and friction stir welding (FSW) on the development of the heat-affected zone (HAZ), residual stress and distortion fields in aluminium plates were investigated in this paper. The FSW and MIG butt welding process of two aluminium alloy 6061-T6 plates were simulated in a three-dimensional, two-step thermo-mechanical analysis using the finite element code ANSYS. The element birth and death technique was implemented in the MIG simulation to model the addition of weld metal to the workpiece and the tool plunging force and fixture release were considered in the FSW simulation. The finite element thermal results revealed that the FSW process resulted in significantly lower temperatures in comparison with MIG welding. The mechanical results indicated that in comparison with MIG welding, the FSW process resulted in up to 40% and 75% less peak tensile and compressive residual stresses, respectively, as well as a reduction of 40%– 60% in HAZ area and considerably smaller distortions.

Keywords:

• friction stir welding
• metal inert gas welding
• finite element analysis
• heat-affected zone
• residual stress
• distortions

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The authors wish to recognise the contribution of financial assistance by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada [Grant Number 261813-2008].