Numerical Modelling and Mechanical Characterization of Pure Aluminium 1050 Wire Drawing for Symmetric and Axisymmetric Plane Deformations

Abstract

This present paper focused on the numerical modelling and simulation of the influence of friction and drawing tension while validating it with experimental results for both symmetric and axisymmetric plane deformations in stranded and unstranded wire drawing of pure aluminium. It must be noted that several methods have been deployed in recent years such as empirical, numerical, mathematical, analytical, as well as experimental in analyzing and optimizing forces and stresses in wire drawing and there are no definite solutions yet in solving the numerical complexities involved as a result of enormous number of factors during the wire drawing operation. On this note, modelling and simulation with different cases had been established. In this study, 9.50 mm was drawn into different diameters having 4.4 mm as entry and 1.7 mm as exit with intermediate sizes. It was established in the study that half conical angle must be kept as moderate as possible, it must not be too high or too low. An increase in reduction ratio (deformation) leads to an increase in tensile strength and that the tensile strength of material during wire during increases with an increase in the frictional coefficient. The fractographical examination revealed that unstranded aluminium drawn wire is more ductile due to the presence of a large network of dimples which are bimodal and equiaxed dominated by a cup and cone structures and this can be attributed to the ductile failure mode. Whereas the stranded aluminium-drawn wire possessed low ductility as revealed in fractography due to the presence of “Rock Candy fracture”.