Friction stir welding (FSW) is a new solid-state welding technology invented at TWI in 1991[1]. This technology has been proven to be very successful in joining aluminum alloys. FSW of nickel alloys and steel is also promising [2,3]. FSW is successfully being applied to aerospace, automobile, and shipbuilding industries [2-4], and is attracting more and more research interest. A good understanding of the heat-transfer process in the workpiece is helpful in predicting the thermal cycles in the welding workpiece and the hardness in the welding zone. Subsequently the understanding of the heat transfer process can be helpful in evaluating the weld quality. A known temperature distribution is also important for calculating the temperature-dependent viscosity when modeling the material flow in the welding.
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