Numerical Simulation of Friction Stir Welding (FSW) Process Based on ABAQUS Environment

. Simulation of the FSW process is a complex issue, as it implies interactions between thermal and mechanical phenomena and the quality of the welding depends on many factors. In order to reduce the time of the experimental tests, which can be long and expensive, numerical simulation of the FSW process has been tried during the last ten years. However, there still remain aspects that cannot be completely simulated. In this paper the authors present the steps of the numerical simulation using the finite elements method, in order to evaluate the boundary conditions of the model and the geometry of the tools by using the Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) adaptive mesh controls.