Optimisation of flow balance and isothermal extrusion of aluminium using finite-element simulations

There is significant demand to reduce variations in the shape and mechanical properties of the aluminium extrusion process to meet tighter tolerance requirements. To reduce variations, the flow and temperature evolution in the container and die must be controlled. To study how the process parameters influence the temperature evolution and the material flow, the effects of ram speed, initial temperature distribution in the billet and container cooling rate have been studied. This work is divided into three parts which examine the different aspects of the extrusion process. (1) To minimize the radial variations of temperature and velocity fields over multiple press cycles. (2) To obtain isothermal extrusion of aluminium. (3) To understand and formulate the effect of an undesired lateral temperature gradient in the billet on the exit velocity of the aluminium sections. In each part, the effect of different process parameters on the flow balance and temperature evolution of the extruded sections is shown and discussed. Crown Copyright (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.