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Numerical simulation and metal flow analysis of hot extrusion process for a complex hollow aluminum profile

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Abstract

The most important way to improve the quality of aluminum profiles is to assure the material flow through die land exit with the same velocity. In this paper, a numerical model was developed to investigate metal flow behavior during aluminum profile extrusion. Firstly, the numerical model for a complex hollow aluminum profile was built based on the arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian program HyperXtrude. Then, with the numerical model, metal flow behavior at each stage during the whole extrusion process was analyzed and dead zones in the die cavity were also investigated by means of the particle tracking method. Finally, the numerical results were validated by comparing with the nose ends of two extrudates in practice, and the comparison showed that the numerical model developed in this work could provide the effective guidance for practical production.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory for Liquid–Solid Structural Evolution and Processing of Materials (Ministry of Education), Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, 250061, People’s Republic of China

    Cunsheng Zhang, Guoqun Zhao, Hao Chen & Yanjin Guan

  2. CSR Qingdao Sifang Co., Ltd, Qingdao, Shandong, 266111, People’s Republic of China

    Fujun Kou

Authors
  1. Cunsheng Zhang
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  2. Guoqun Zhao
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  3. Hao Chen
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  4. Yanjin Guan
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  5. Fujun Kou
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Correspondence to Guoqun Zhao.

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Zhang, C., Zhao, G., Chen, H. et al. Numerical simulation and metal flow analysis of hot extrusion process for a complex hollow aluminum profile. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 60, 101–110 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-011-3609-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-011-3609-7

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