Effect of a Special ECAP Die Configuration on Microhardness Distributions in Pure Aluminum

Abstract

Experiments were conducted to evaluate the feasibility of using a new ECAP die configuration in which there are arcs of curvature at the intersection of the two channels at both the outer and inner points. The experiments used a configuration in which the radii of curvature were identical at both the outer and inner points since calculations suggest this corresponds to an optimum configuration. High-purity aluminum was pressed using this special die and hardness measurements were taken on cross-sectional planes after pressing. The results show the new die configuration leads to less homogeneity than with conventional ECAP dies.