Investigation of heat generation calculations in numerical modelling of friction stir welding

Numerical modelling is a powerful tool for understanding the temperature distribution and material flow in Friction Stir Welding (FSW) and Friction Stir Processing (FSP). However, the lack of a suitable framework and difficulty in accurately estimating heat generation are crucial challenges in this area. This paper examined different approaches used by researchers to predict heat generation. Actual experimentation was conducted to ascertain the variation of normal force under different process parameters by varying the tool rotation rate and traverse speed. Investigation revealed that the magnitude of the normal force differs under various experimental conditions. However, most existing numerical models neglect this crucial variation of the normal force. The results necessitate adopting the CEL approach in future studies, as it effectively considers the variation in normal force, which can precisely predict heat generation.