Simulation of Hot Extrusion of an Aluminum Alloy with Modeling of Microstructure

Abstract

In this work a numerical method for the simulation of extrusion processes with modeling of microstructure is presented. Extensive testing was done to provide a basis for the verification of simulation results. Circular rods of AA6005A were extruded by backward and forward extrusion with different extrusion ratios, billet temperatures and product velocities. The extruded rods were cooled either by water or at air to distinguish between dynamic and static recrystallization. Temperature and strain-rate dependent yield stresses were determined from hot compression tests. Special friction tests on cylindrical specimens under high hydrostatic stresses at high temperatures have been performed and the parameters of a friction model were identified from the experiments. The recrystallized volume fraction and grain sizes in the extruded rods were analyzed by means of optical micrographs. The obtained results were used to determine the parameters of a recrystallization model which was implemented in the FE code HyperXtrude. The transferability of the numerical model was checked by simulating forward extrusion tests using the model parameters obtained from backward extrusion tests.