THERMAL SCIENCE

International Scientific Journal

Darko M Veljić

,

Bojan I MeđoORCID

,

Fikret I Alić

,

Aleksandar S SedmakORCID

,

Tatjana M Lazović

INFLUENCE OF THE JOINT GEOMETRY ON HEAT ENERGY, GENERATED DURING THE PLUNGE STAGE OF FRICTION STIR WELDING

ABSTRACT
The numerical simulation of friction stir welded T-joints made of AA2024 T3 is investigated. Analysis of heat generation due to friction and plastic work is performed, as well as of the reaction force in the normal direction during the plunge stage of the friction stir welding. The effect of joint geometry is studied for butt joints and T-joints produced from the same material. Different tool rotation speeds and tool pin lengths were considered forT-joint friction stir welding. It was shown that the temperature at the root of the weld below the tool pin is lower in the T-joint than in the butt joint, due to the efficient conduction of the heat produced through the normal plate. Also, the reaction force was higher for the T-joint than for the butt joint, so, heat production by friction was more intense in comparison with the heat produced by plastic deformation. The reaction force was moderately increased for the tool with a shorter pin, increasing both components of the heat produced. An increase in the tool rotation speed decreased the resistance to the tool plunging into the T-joint, increasing the frictional heat and decreasing the amount of heat generated by plastic deformation.
KEYWORDS
friction stir welding, T-joint, AA2024, numerical simulation, temperature field, heat produced
PAPER SUBMITTED: 2025-09-29
PAPER REVISED: 2025-10-24
PAPER ACCEPTED: 2025-10-29
PUBLISHED ONLINE: 2025-12-06
DOI REFERENCE: https://doi.org/10.2298/TSCI250929220V
CITATION EXPORT: view in browser or download as text file
THERMAL SCIENCE YEAR 2026, VOLUME 30, ISSUE No. 2, PAGES [1563 - 1572]
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Influence of the joint geometry on heat energy, generated during the plunge stage of friction stir welding

© 2026 Society of Thermal Engineers of Serbia. Published by the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International licence