Numerical investigation of dissimilar friction stir welding of AISI 304L and 410S stainless steels

Friction stir welding (FSW) has been successfully used to join dissimilar materials with advantages such as incipient chemical mixing and positive recrystallization of the microstructure. However, to understand how welding parameters affect the thermal cycle and the material flow around the tool is essential to produce joints without defects. In this work, a numerical simulation of dissimilar joints of AISI 304L austenitic stainless steel with AISI 410S ferritic stainless steel using the FSW technique was performed. The equations of the model were discretized by the finite volume method (FVM), and the mixture between the materials was modeled by the volume of fluid method (VOF) using the ANSYS-fluent simulator. The results predicted the temperatures during the welding for different conditions and viscosity changes successfully. Furthermore, they predicted a better combination of welding parameters in relation to flash formation. The VOF method predicted the mixture of the materials. Furthermore, the results indicated the location of each material and thus avoided unnecessary experimental tests.