Analysis and improvement of material flow during extrusion process using spreading pocket die for large-size, flat-wide, and multi-ribs profile

Spreading extrusion is an advanced technology to produce the solid aluminum profiles with large-size, flat-wide, and thin-walled structures. Currently, little research has been reported on the hot extrusion process through spreading pocket die for manufacturing these kinds of aluminum profiles. It is a challenging task for die engineers to control the billet through die cavity with a uniform velocity. Reasonable structure design for spreading pocket die can eliminate extrusion defects and improve the performance of extrudate. In this paper, virtual tryout of spreading extrusion process for a large-size, flat-wide, and multi-ribs aluminum profile was performed through arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian simulation. Firstly, spreading pocket die was designed based on the theory of metal plastic flowing. The uniformity of flow velocity distribution on the cross-section of die exit was evaluated quantitatively through standard deviation calculation. Then, a series of structure modifications for the spreading pocket die was proposed to improve material flow during die cavity based on the simulated results. Thirdly, a synthetical comparison of extrusion formability for the modified and initial spreading pocket dies was carried out, including the metal flow behavior, exit temperature, residual stress of extrudate, and peak extrusion force. Finally, the modified extrusion dies were manufactured, and corresponding extrusion experiment was performed to verify the effectiveness and reliability of numerical simulations. The key design points of spreading pocket die for large-size, flat-wide, and multi-ribs aluminum profile were concluded.