Friction stir welding（FSW） is a new solid phase joining technology and is widely used in the fields of aviation

spaceflight

shipbuilding and so on. The flow of material in the weld zone has an important influence on the welding quality of FSW. In general

it is hard to study the material flow directly

while the flow field simulation provides an important means to study it. The application status of flow field simulation in FSW is reviewed

including plastic material flow mechanism

stir tools structure optimization and auxiliary energy impact analysis. The research progress and achievements of flow field simulation are summarized

which provides a reference and basis for the flow field simulation in FSW from the theoretical analysis to engineering application.