Simulation of steady-state extrusion through a hollow die using hyperxtrude FE software

Gang Liu^1,2, Ke Huang², Jie Zhou¹, Jurek Duszczyk¹

¹Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Mekelweg 2, 2628 CD Delft, The Netherlands.
²School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7494/cmms.2011.2.0341

Abstract:

Die design for light-metal extrusion relies on the experience of the die designer. Die performance is only known after the die is manufactured and tested on the extrusion press. The die designer needs a tool that can provide an insight into metal flow through the die at the design stage. The extrusion process engineer needs the same tool to set optimum process parameters for the highest possible productivity and product quality. Computer simulation based on the finite element (FE) method can be such a tool, if software, material model, material data, boundary conditions and simulation parameters are all appropriate to represent the real process. The majority of commercial FE codes are based on the updated Lagrangian approach. Using these codes to simulate the industrial extrusion process with large billet and tooling sizes is time-consuming. HyperXtrude is an FE code based on the Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) approach and needs far less time to simulate the process in the steady state. The present study was aimed at assessing the capabilities of HyperXtrude to simulate the extrusion process through a porthole die to produce a rectangular tube. The effects of billet temperature, heat transfer between billet, die and air, and ram speed on the extrusion pressure and extrudate temperature were investigated. The extrudate temperature was found to keep rising during steady-state extrusion and the amplitude in the range of 40–90oC depending on the billet temperature. Being different from the heat transfer coefficient between the billet and die, the heat transfer coefficient between the die and surrounding air strongly influenced the extrudate temperature and extrusion pressure. Increasing ram speed led to monotonous increases of the workpiece temperatures inside the container and die welding chamber, while the effect on the pressures inside the container and die welding chamber was complicated by heat generation.

Cite as:

Liu, G., Huang, K., Zhou, J., & Duszczyk, J. (2011). Simulation of steady-state extrusion through a hollow die using hyperxtrude FE software. Computer Methods in Materials Science, 11(2), 259 – 264. https://doi.org/10.7494/cmms.2011.2.0341

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