FINITE ELEMENT SIMULATION OF BACKWARD MICRO EXTRUSION FOR ANNEALED COPPER

The growing demand of miniaturized products is tremendously influencing the progress of micro-forming technologies. The implementations of micro technologies in the field of microelectronics, sensors, and medical equipment necessitate versatile micro-forming processes. These processes facilitate the bulk production of micro parts with higher precision, minimum material waste, and better surface finish. However, micro-forming technologies are still expensive due to the limitations of traditional materials and stringent size requirements. Finite element simulations are being widely used to analyze the manufacturing process parameters before going into production. In this research, a backward micro-extrusion process is simulated for annealed copper by using commercial Finite element simulation software. The effects of different punch diameters, friction coefficients, punch velocities on the load-displacement curves and the resulting strain distributions are investigated. To overcome limitations of the post-yield hardening data from the uniaxial compression test, the Ramberg-Osgood model is proposed to predict the responses at the higher plastic strain.