Introduction to Extrusion

Extrusion is the process by which a block of metal, such as a cylindrical bar or a

hollow tube, is forced to flow through a die orifice under high pressure, and thus
reduced in cross section. Metals are extruded either hot or cold. Since the
extrusion billet in the container and die is under in high compressive stresses, so
the metal shows high deformation ability against cracking, and requires high load
and power. Extrusion is used to produce long and straight sections of constant
cross section. It is a good process for the working of metals difficult to form, like
stainless steels, nickel-based alloys, and other high-temperature materials.

There are two basic types of extrusion

 Direct extrusion (or forward extrusion). The metal billet is driven

through the die by the ram. The direction of the ram movement is the
same as the extruded metal at the exit.

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  Indirect extrusion (also called inverted, or back extrusion). As the
basic form, a hollow ram carries the die and pushes toward, to cause the
metal flow out from the die in the direction against the direction of the ram
and die. However, as a common form, of indirect extrusion, the ram
containing the die is kept stationary, and the container with the billet is
caused to move. This eliminates the relative motion between the wall of
the container, and thus leads to lower friction forces and power
requirement than that for direct extrusion. However, there are practical
limitations to indirect extrusion, that is, the force the hollow ram can deliver
is limited

Extrusion Equipment

Most extrusions are made with hydraulic presses. Hydraulic extrusion presses
are classified into horizontal and vertical presses, depending upon the direction
of travel of the ram. Vertical extrusion presses are generally in the production of
thin-wall tubing, where uniform wall thickness and concentricity are required.
Horizontal extrusion presses are used for extrusion of bars and tubes. Capacity
of presses ranges regularly from 1,500 to 5,000 tons and in some case to 14,000
tons.
There are basically three variations of extrusion, depending on the lubrication
technique used. In the nonlubricated extrusion process (Fig. 2, left), a flat face
die is used, and the material flows by internal shear and causes a "dead-metal
zone" to form in front of the extrusion die. In lubricated extrusion (Fig. 2, middle),
dies with conical entrance angles are used. A suitable lubricant is present
between the extruded billet and the extrusion tooling, i.e, the container and the
die.

Fig. 2: Schematic illustrations of the nonlubricated (A), lubricated (B), and

hydrostatic (C) extrusion processes

The more recently developed technique for extrusion is hydrostatic extrusion.

With this process, the billet may have a large length-to-diameter ratio (even coils
of wire can be extruded) or it may have an irregular cross section. Since there is
no container-billet friction, the curve of the extrusion pressure vs. ram travel is
nearly flat. Because of the pressurized fluid, lubrication is very effective, and the
extruded product has good surface finish and dimensional accuracy. Also it is
possible to use dies with a very low semicone angle, which greatly minimizes the
redundant deformation. Some limitations occur, however, for the hydrostatic
extrusion. Besides the practical limit on fluid pressure, there are also problems in
the control on the exit from the die due to large amount of stored energy in a
pressurized fluid. Most recent development for the hydrostatic extrusion uses
thick-film hydrostatic extrusion to minimize the amount of pressurized fluid (Fig.
2, right).

The ram speed of the press can be an important parameter. Ram speeds of
1,000 to 1,500 in/min may be used in extruding refractory metals, while aluminum
and copper alloys require the ram speeds of a few inches per minute since they
are prone to hot shortness.
Dies used are flat-faced dies, for non-lubrication situation, and dies with conical
entrance angles, which are used in extrusion with good lubrication.