Experimental and numerical investigations of bonding interface behavior in stationary shoulder friction stir lap welding

Abstract Stationary shoulder friction stir lap welding (SSFSLW) was employed to weld 2024 aluminum alloy. A coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL) model was developed to investigate the lap interface behavior during SSFSLW. Numerical results of material movement and equivalent plastic strain were in good agreement with the experimental work. With increasing welding speed, the distances from the hook tip to the top surface of the upper workpiece on the retreating side (RS) and the advancing side (AS) increase, while the distance between two wave-shaped alclads decreases. A symmetric interface bending is observed on the AS and the RS during plunging, while the interface bending on the AS is bigger than that on the RS during welding. The peak temperature of the interface on the AS is higher than that on the RS. The equivalent plastic strain gradually increases as the distance to the weld center decreases, and its peak value is obtained near the bottom of the weld.