Thermal modeling of friction stir welding of thick high-density polyethylene plates

The process temperatures in the friction stir welding of thick polymer plates play a significant role in the joint's quality since the process is characterized by mixed solid and viscous flow states. The heat generation mechanism in each state is fundamentally different, with heat being generated by friction in the solid-state and by viscous shear flow in the viscous state. In this study, the heat generation and dissipation in the friction stir welding of 14 mm thick high-density polyethylene plates were studied numerically through solving the direct heat conduction problem. Two models of heat generation were used in the numerical solution and the effect of the pin rotational speed on the process temperatures was investigated. It was shown that the utilization of a mixed heat generation model consisting of both the solid state and the viscous shear flow considerably improves the numerical model predictions. The temperature predictions were validated through welding experiments and showed a temperature difference of 3 %. Furthermore, it was found that the welding process stabilizes at rotational speeds higher than 800 rpm, where no considerable change occurs in the volume of the viscous flow region and the welding power requirement. The numerical results based on the combined solid-viscous heat model were in good agreement with the experimental thermal histories.