Y. Gooroochurn, E. Feulvarch, F. Boitout, ESI Group, LYON, France; J. M. Bergheau, National School of Engineering of Saint Etienne, SAINT ETIENNE, France

Summary: Friction stir welding is a complex process including interactions between thermal, metallurgical and mechanical phenomena. The heating is provided by the mechanical dissipation due to the strains and the contact conditions between the tool and the material. This paper describes a numerical model to simulate the temperature profile during the steady-state of the process. This fully coupled model is based on the Finite Element Method considering an incompressible non-Newtonian fluid. The stress equilibrium, the energy conservation and the mass conservation are studied in an Eulerian frame. The objectives of such a 3D model are, on one hand, the understanding of physics and, on the other hand, the development of a predictive tool allowing to reduce the number of experiments needed to design new tools. An example is presented for an aluminium alloy 7075.