Simulation and experimental investigation of FSP of AZ91 magnesium alloy

A thermo-mechanical simulation of the friction stir processing (FSP), using the DEFORM 3D software based on Lagrangian implicit, was developed and verified by the experimental results. Simulation can successfully predict the temperature and effective strain distributions. Material flow around the tool pin was examined using the point tracking. It was found that the major part of material flow occurs at the advancing side, and consequently, stirred zone (SZ) stretches toward the advancing side. However, material at the retreating side moves slightly in backward direction. The material deformation and the peak temperature influence on the microstructural characters and can determine the width of SZ. Based on the simulation, effective strain and temperature histories of material around the tool pin were also calculated. The amount of effective strain and peak temperature required for recrystallization at the advancing and retreating sides as well as at the bottom of SZ was determined. Therefore, the width of SZ can be predicted by the simulation.