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.