Numerical modeling of friction stir welding of thermoplastic materials - An overview

The friction stir welding (FSW) technique is gaining widespread popularity due to its immense applications in aerospace, automotive, and shipbuilding industries. This technique has potential to join similar and dissimilar metallic and thermoplastic parts, and in developing thermoplastic-metallic hybrid welds. The current work lays out a state-of-the-art review on numerical modeling of FSW for thermoplastic materials. The available studies are divided into the FSW process modeling and FSW joint material behavior modeling. The FSW process modeling can be further classified into thermal-based models, structural-based thermomechanical models, and CFD-based thermomechanical models. The development of a successful numerical model can help to further understand the FSW technique for thermoplastics. It can also help to further optimize the welding conditions along many process parameters and in wide operating ranges to create high quality thermoplastic weld joints (less defects, improved mechanical properties). The research gaps in the literature are also discussed, and recommendations are provided for future studies.