Study of ECAE Process by Using FEM

Abstract

In this work, the strain field attained by using a severe plastic deformation (SPD) process called equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) is studied by the finite element method (FEM). The three-dimensional model with circular section includes shear friction between the part and the die, the material strain hardening behaviour and a rigid-deformable contact between the billet and the die. In the ECAE process the part is extruded through two channels with similar diameter that intersect at an angle. When the extrusion process has been performed, the processed material remains it cross section, so there is not any geometric limitation to achieve the desired plastic strain. There are different ways of processing the material by using the ECAE process; those ways of processing are called routes. In this work two passages of route C have been simulated. Using route C means that the billet has been rotated 180º between each passage. Deformations imparted to the processed material have been calculated and a comparison with experimental results has been carried out.