This paper deals with the heat generation in the Al alloy Al2024-T3 plate under different rotating speeds and plunge speeds during the plunge stage of friction stir welding (FSW). A three-dimensional finite element model (FEM) is developed in the commercial code ABAQUS/Explicit using the arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian formulation, the Johnson-Cook material law and Coulomb?s Law of friction. The heat generation in FSW can be divided into two parts: frictional heat generated by the tool and heat generated by material deformation near the pin and the tool shoulder region. Numerical results obtained in this work indicate a more prominent influence from the friction-generated heat. The slip rate of the tool relative to the workpiece material is related to this portion of heat. The material velocity, on the other hand, is related to the heat generated by plastic deformation. Increasing the plunging speed of the tool decreases the friction-generated heat and increases the amount of deformation-generated heat, while increasing the tool rotating speed has the opposite influence on both heat portions. Numerical results are compared with the experimental ones, in order to validate the numerical model, and a good agreement is obtained.