Thermal Analysis of Laser-assisted Friction Stir Welding (LAFSW) for Different Geometrical Parameters
R. P. Vishwakarma, U. K. Singh and A. K. Dubey
Friction stir welding (FSW) is purposely established to overcome difficulties present in fusion welding methods of Al alloys. But FSW reduces the tool life due to high wear and plunging force during plunging stage of tool. Laser assisted friction stir welding (LAFSW) is a new hybrid welding approach that can reduce tool wear and plunging force by pre-heating the workpiece and improve welded joint properties. In this work a thermomechanical analysis has been implemented for LAFSW of 5754 Al alloys using an analytical heat source model (AHSM). Effect of different parameters such as distance between laser and tool, laser beam radius, tool shoulder diameter (TSD) and shoulder cone angle have been studied for maximum temperature and residual stresses developed in process. The results suggest that maximum temperature and maximum longitudinal stress obtained for conical shoulder with 7° cone angle are 879.4 K and 119.0 MPa, respectively.
Keywords: Laser-assisted, 5754 Al alloy, friction stir welding (FSW), residual stress, tool geometry, thermo-mechanical analysis, analytical heat source model (AHSM), finite element analysis (FEA)