FEM Analysis of the Skin Contamination Behavior in the Extrusion of a AA6082 Profile

Abstract

In the extrusion of aluminum alloys, the skin contamination lead to the scraping of the profile extent in which this defect occurs. In order to optimize the scraping process, extrusion companies and die makers can either perform time-consuming and expensive analyses to experimentally determine the evolution of the defect or rely on predictive methods. Recently, numerical methods, as the Finite Elements, are increasingly used to predict the evolution of the skin contamination, but their accuracy is still uncertain. In this work, an AA6082 aluminum profile of industrial complexity is analysed and the data collected used to validate an innovative method for the prediction of the skin contamination evolution developed using the commercial FEM code Qform®. In addition, the results are used to assess the prediction accuracy of an industrial empirical formula often used by operators.

Investigation of the skin contamination predictability by means of QForm UK extrusion code

“…• A good numerical-experimental matching was achieved on the skin contamination behaviour with and without lubrication. • The total computational time for the two simulations (2 hours for the solid profile, 3 hours, and 30 min for the hollow profile) proved to be several times lower than the computational time reported in [6] without causing a decrease in the prediction accuracy. PC with Intel Core i9-9940X (14 cores, 4.20 GHz max.…”

“…To the best of authors knowledge, only two studies were performed to investigate the skin defect on profiles of industrial complexity [4,5] where both front-end and back-end defects are analysed using numerical simulation with the Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) approach. In [6], a Lagrangian approach was used for the simulation of the extrusion process and the skin propagation was checked by tracing the array of points located at the distance of the thickness of contaminated layer. On the one hand, the use of a pure Lagrangian tool resulted in an increase of the prediction accuracy but, on the other hand, it led to a considerable rise in computational time of the simulation.…”

Development of Low-Weight and High-Strength AA6005A Extrudates Intended for Modern Architecture and Design of Innovative Die for Extrusion Process

“…In the case of standard technology, simulations were carried out using the standard die model for conventional manufacturing processes, on the basis of which the imperfections of the technology were determined. Based on the analysis of the simulation results of standard technology, an innovative die model was developed for extruding a thin-walled profile with reduced weight from the AA6005A alloy [25,26].…”