26.04.

2017 DesignOfMetalExtrusionProcesses

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MetalExtrusionDesign
EXTRUSION
PROCESSES
MetalExtrusion
ImpactExtrusion
HydrostaticExtrusion

MANUFACTURING
PROCESSES
MetalCasting
MetalForming
MetalRolling
MetalForging
MetalDrawing
SheetMetal
PowderProcesses

Designofametalextrusionmanufacturingprocessinvolvesconsiderationofmany
differentfactors.Theprimarygoalistocreateaprocessthatenactsasmoothandeffective
flowofmaterial.Ingeneral,forcenecessaryisminimizedasmuchaspossible.Higherforces
requiregreatercapacityandenergy.Higherforcesalsoincreasethechancesofpartdefects,
diewearanddiebreakage.Frictionhasanimportantrollwhenextrudingapartandshouldbe
maintainedatanoptimumlevel.Byexaminingandunderstandingthecausesofmetal
extrusiondefects,theprocessengineercandesignaparticularoperationtomitigatethe
chancesofdefectsoccurring.Defectsfallintodifferentcategoriesandhaveseveralroot
causes.Mostdefectsaresimilar,lessspecifically,inthattheyarecreatedbyimpropermaterial
movementandstressdistributions.Controlofoperationalfactorswillallowforcontrolof
forcesandmetalflow,producingefficient,defectfreemetalextrusions.Inadditionto
operationalfactors,thegeometricprofileoftheextrusionalsoaffectsthemanufactureofthe
part.

TroubleshootingDefects
Extrusiondefectsthatoccurduringthemanufacturingprocessgenerallyfallintothreebasic
categories.Internalbreakage,particularlyinthecenter,surfacecracking,andpiping.

CenterCracking
Internalbreakagecommonnamesusedinmanufacturingindustryforthistypeofdefectare
centercracking,cheveroncracking,arrowheadfracture,andcenterburst.Astheworkpieceis
beingextrudedthroughthedie,stresseswithintheworkbreakthematerialcausingcracksto
formalongthecentralaxisoftheextrudedsection.Centercrackingisadifficultdefectto
detectsinceitoccurswithinthematerialofthepart.Figure219showsametalextrusion
subjecttocenterburst,theparthasbeencutinahalfsectionsothatthedefectmaybe
observed.
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Figure:219

Tounderstandthecausesofcentercracking,itisimportanttounderstandtheflowofthemetal
thatisoccurringwhileextrudingaprofile.Asmentionedinthematerialflowsection,the
outerregionofthemetalextrusionwillexperiencemoredeformation,morematerial
displacementandmoreturbulentflowthantheareastowardsthecentralregion.The
differencebetweenthemetalmovementoftheouterregionscomparedtothatofthecentral
regioniscritical.Ifthematerialdisplacementoccurringintheouterareasisofamuchgreater
magnitudethanthatwhichisoccurringinthecentralarea,thenthedifferencewillcausehigh
stressestodevelopwithinthematerial.Thegreaterthedifferenceinmetalflowcharacteristics
betweenregions,thegreaterthestressesthatwilloccur.Ifthestresslevelbecomestoohigh,
thenmaterialbreakagewilloccurintheformofinternalcracks.

Inmanufacturingpractice,selectionofdieanglewillbeaprimaryfactorinpreventingcenter
cracking.Highdieangleswillfavorcentercrackinginametalextrusionmorethanlowdie
angleswill.Thereasonbeingthegreaterflowturbulencecreatedintheouterregionsofthe
work.Higherfiction,ingeneral,willtendtoreducethechancesofcentercracking.Cracks
willpropagateoverinclusions,thereforethegreatertheamountofinclusionsinthework
material,themorefavorabletheconditionsfortheoccurrenceofthismetalextrusiondefect.
Highextrusionratiosarelesslikelytopromotecentercracksthanlowerones.

SurfaceBreakage
Surfacebreakagedefectonametalextrusion,isbreakageonthesurfaceofthepart.Most
surfacedefectsareintheformofcracksthatextendfromthesurfaceintothepartsmaterial,to
varyingdegrees.Thesecracksusuallyoccuralongthegrainboundariesofthemetal.The
primarycauseofsurfacecrackingdefectinmetalextrusionmanufactureisexcessivestresses
onthesurfaceofthepart'smaterial.Frictionisalargefactorincontrollingsurfacebreakage,
whilemanufacturinganextrudedsection.Increasedfrictionwillcreateamorefavorable
environmentforsurfacecracking.Lubricationcanhelpreducefriction,socananincreased
dieangle.

Whendesigningametalextrusionmanufacturingprocess,itisimportanttobalanceallfactors
suchasfriction.Lowerfrictionmaycreatebetterconditionsatthesurfacesbetweenthework
anddie.However,iffrictionforcesaretoolow,amoreturbulentouterflowmayresultin
centercracking.Anotherimportantfactorinsurfacebreakagedefectisthehardnessofthe
workstockmaterial.Thespeedatwhichthepartisextrudedisalsoaconsideration.Higher
extrusionspeedswillcreateconditionsmorefavorabletomaterialbreakage.

Conditionsinwhichtheworkmaterialstickstotheextrusiondiecanbeacauseofsurface
cracking.Workstickingtotoolsurfacescansometimesbeaprobleminmanydifferentkinds
ofmanufacturingoperations,especiallywithsomespecificmaterials.Itisacommoncasethat
whentheextrusionstickstothedie,pressurebuildsupbehindthematerial.Enoughforce
breaksloosethework,causingcracksinthemetal.Thepartshootsforwardasmalldistance,
thenitstickstothedieagain.Thiscyclerepeatsitselfasthepartisbeingextruded.Thecracks
willappearatspacedintervalsaroundthepart'speripheral.Thisissomewhatreminiscentof
theappearanceofabambootree,thusthisparticularmanufacturingdefectistermedbamboo
defect.

Surfacecrackingofametalextrusionneednothaveamechanicalcause,oftentherootcause
ofcrackingofametalbeingextrudedwillbethermalstresses.Highthermalgradients
betweentheworkanddieinterfacecancausetheextrusion'ssurfacestolooseheatrapidly.
Heateddieandlubricationcanhelpmitigatethermalgradientsatsurfaces.Theworkbillet
shouldbeheatedtothebesttemperatureconsideringtheoperationalvariables.Extrusion
speedandfrictionarecriticalfactorsincontrollingthethermalcharacteristicsofthistypeof
metalmanufacturingprocess.Higherextrusionspeedscannotonlygenerategreater
mechanicalforces,butmoreheataswell.Increasesinheatgenerationduringtheprocesscan
cracktheworkmaterial.

PipingDefect
Piping,alsocalledtailpipeorfishtailing,isadefectcommonwhenmanufacturingsectionsby
directextrusion.Theuseofadummyblockandgoodsurfacepreparationoftheworkcanhelp
avoidpiping.Pipingoccursintheworkmaterialattheendoppositetothedie.Pipingisa
resultofimpropermetalflowduringtheextrusionoperation.Pipingmanifestsitselfasa

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funnelshapedvoidofmaterialattheendofthework.Asmentionedbefore,metalflowisa
veryimportantconsiderationinanyformingoperation.Thewaytosolveapipingproblemis
toenactasmoothmetalflowduringtheextrusionprocess.Thecombinationoffrictionand
thermalgradientsactingatthedieworkinterfaceneedstobeobserved,andtheircumulative
effectonthemetalflowoccurringduringtheprocessdetermined.Themanufacturingengineer
mustcontrolthedifferentprocessvariablestoachievethesmoothestmaterialflowpossible
duringthemetalextrusionoperation.

Figure:220

MetalExtrusionDesignForManufacture
Whendesigningametalextrusionprocess,thegeometricprofileoftheextrudedsectionisan
importantfactoraffectingtheforcesinvolved,metalflow,diewearandpartquality.Some
crosssections,whenextruded,willproduceundesirableforcedistributionsandmetalflow.If
possible,itisdesirabletodesignformanufacture.Thissectionwilldiscusstheeffectof
differentfeaturesofaprofileandhowtooptimizethecrosssectionformetalextrusion
manufacture.

First,itisimportanttounderstandthatthenatureoftheforcesinvolvedinmetalextrusionare
fundamentallydifferentthanthoseofotherformingprocesses.Forexample,inaprocesssuch
asmetalforging,theforcesactingontheoperationwillvarythroughouttheprocess,stress
willchangeastheforgingstrokeprogresses.Withextrusion,(althoughindirectextrusion
thereissomewhatofadecreaseinthenecessaryforce,astheoperationprogresses,dueto
decreasingfrictionwithbilletlength),theforcesactingaregenerallyconsistentthroughoutthe
bulkoftheoperation.

Somecomponentsneedtohaveaveryspecificgeometryandmustbemanufacturedthatway.
However,ifmanufacturedproductsmaybegeometricallyalteredinsuchawayastoeasein
theirmanufacture,withoutchangingtheirabilitytoperformtheirdesiredfunction,thenthey
shouldberedesignedformanufacture.Symmetryisgenerallypreferredinextrudedmetal
crosssections,particularlywithregardtoopenareasofthecrosssection.Openareasinan
extrusion'scrosssectionwillcomplicatetheprocessbychangingtheforcesinvolved.Die
wearandbreakageareprimaryconsiderationsofamanufacturingprocessdesignerwhen
designingametalextrusionoperation.Controllingmaterialflowisessentialinmetalforming
manufacture.Inaddition,thestressesappliedtothedie,asaresultofthismetalflow,mustbe
calculatedandthemoldmustbedesignedtohandletheseforces.Someareasofthediemay
besubjecttogreaterstressesthanothers.Someareasofadiemaynotbeabletohandleas
muchstressasothers.Thegeometryofthemoldmustbeconsideredcarefullywithrespectto
theforcescreated,asthepartisbeingextruded.

Excessivestressesinplacesthatcannothandleit,cancauserapidwearanddiebreakage.
Extrusiondietonguescauseaweakerareainthedie'sgeometry.Thelocationofdietongues
andtheforcestheyaresubjecttoareanimportantfactorindiedesign.

Figure:221

Symmetryprovidesformorebalancedforcesandhelpsavoidoverstressingareasofthe
extrudingdie.Hollowareaswithinthecrosssection,inparticular,shouldbebalanced.

Figure:222

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Usually,largerhollowareascausemoredifficultiesduringthemetalextrusionoperation.
Reducingtheareaofhollowsections,ifpossible,mayeasethemanufacturingoperation.If
hollowsectionscanbeeliminatedcompletely,infavorofasinglesolidextrusion,itwouldbe
abetterdesignformanufacture.

Figure:223

Thinwalledmetalextrusionsareoftenproducedinmanufacturingindustry,however,thereare
limitstotheminimumwallthickness.Minimumwallthicknessofanextrusiondepends
largelyonthetypeofextrudedmetal.Minimumwallthicknessforaluminumextrusionsis
usuallyabout.040inches.Acommontypeofextrudedsteelmayhaveaminimumwall
thicknessofthreetimesthatofaluminum.Standardwallthicknessthroughouttheprofileis
desirable,ifnot,thewallthicknessshouldbeasbalancedaspossible.

Figure:224

Onewaytoimprovethedesignofametalextrusionprocessthatrequiresacrosssectionof
wallsofdifferentthickness,istosmooththetransitionbetweenthicktothinwallswithalarge
radius.

Figure:225

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Themanufacturingdesignershouldavoidsharpcornersinametalextrusion'sprofile,ifatall
possible.

Figure:226

Asmentionedearlier,dietonguesarecriticalareasformoldwearandbreakage.Rounding
certaincornersofametalextrusioncanstrengthendietongues.

Figure:227

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