P. Edwards, D. G. Sanders, The Boeing Company, Seattle, WA; M. Ramulu, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
A research project was undertaken to evaluate the performance of as Friction Stir Welded (FSW) and Superplastically Formed Friction Stir Welded (SPF-FSW) Titanium joints [1]. This paper presents numerical models which were developed to simulate mechanical response of as FSW and SPF-FSW joints. The simulation results were then compared to experimentally determined behavior to assess the validity of the modeling approach. It was found that the proposed numerical modeling method can adequately simulate the behavior of a FSW joint. However, there were several difficulties associated with the simulation of a FSW-SPF joint.
Summary: The purpose of this project was to develop numerical models to simulate the mechanical tensile behavior of Friction Stir Welded and Superplastically Formed - Friction Stir Welded Titanium joints. Simulation results were compared to experimentally observed joint characteristics to assess the validity of the modeling approach.
