EXTRUSION

Ch. 5

Extrusion
A compression forming process in which
the work metal is forced to flow through a
die opening to produce a desired crosssectional shape.
Pros:
variety of sections possible (hot extrusion)
grain structure and strength enhancement
(cold)
close tolerance (cold)
no material wastage.

EXTRUSIONS

STANDARD EXTRUSIONS

Extrusions
Figure 15.2
Extrusions, and
examples of
products made
by sectioning off
extrusions.

Types of Extrusion
Direct Extrusion
The ram forces the work billet metal to move
forward to pass through the die opening.

Indirect Extrusion
The die is mounted to the ram rather than at
the opposite end of the extruder container
housing.

Direct Extrusion

Figure 15.1 Schematic illustration of the direct extrusion process.

Direct Extrusion

Friction
increases the
extrusion force.
Hollow section
is formed using
a mandrel.

Indirect Extrusion

Figure 15.3 Types of extrusion: (a) indirect; (b) hydrostatic; (c) lateral.

Indirect Extrusion
Metal is forced to flow
through the die in an
opposite direction to
the rams motion.
Lower extrusion force
as the work billet
metal is not moving
relative to the
container wall.

Hydrostatic Extrusion

Hydrostatic Extrusion

Using hydrostatic system to reduce the friction

and lower the power requirement.
Sealing is the major problem.

Ram Force

Variation of Ram Force with ram

stroke and die angle.

Lateral Extrusion

Extrusion-Die
Configurations
(a)

(c)

(b)

Figure 15.8 Typical extrusion-die configurations: (a) die for nonferrous metals; (b) die for ferrous
metals; (c) die for T-shaped extrusion, made of hot-work die steel and used with molten glass as a
lubricant.

Hydraulic-Extrusion
Press

Figure 15.17 General view of a 9-MN (1000-ton) hydraulic-extrusion press.

Extrusion Equipment

EXTRUSION

EXTRUSION

Cross-Sections to be Extruded
Figure 15.10 Poor and
good examples of crosssections to be extruded.
Note the importance of
eliminating sharp corners
and of keeping section
thicknesses uniform.
Source: J. G. Bralla (ed.);
Handbook of Product
Design for Manufacturing.
New York: McGraw-Hill
Publishing Company,
1986. Used with
permission.

Components for
Extruding Hollow
Shapes

Figure 15.9 (a) An extruded 6063-T6 aluminum ladder lock for aluminum extension ladders. This
part is 8 mm (5/16 in.) thick and is sawed from the extrusion (see Fig. 15.2). (b)-(d) Components
of various dies for extruding intricate hollow shapes. Source: for (b)-(d): K. Laue and H. Stenger,
Extrusion--Processes, Machinery, Tooling. American Society for Metals, Metals Park, Ohio, 1981.
Used with permission.

Extrusion Processes
Hot extrusion
Keeping the processing temperature to above
the re-crystalline temperature. Reducing the
ram force, increasing the ram speed, and
reduction of grain flow characteristics.
Controlling the cooling is a problem. Glass
may be used as a lubricant.

Cold extrusion
Often used to produce discrete parts. Increase
strength due to strain hardening, close
tolerances, improved surface finish, absence

Extrusion Temperature
Ranges for Various Metals

Lead
Aluminum and its alloys
Copper and its alloys
Steels
Refractory alloys

C
200250
375475
650975
8751300
9752200

Extrusion Defects

a) Centre-burst: internal crack due to excessive tensile

stress at the centre possibly because of high die angle,
low extrusion ratio.
b) Piping: sink hole at the end of billet under direct
extrusion.
c) Surface cracking: High part temperature due to low
extrusion speed and high strain rates.

Process Variables in Direct

Extrusion

Figure 15.4 Process variables in direct extrusion. The die

angle, reduction in cross-section, extrusion speed, billet
temperature, and lubrication all affect the extrusion pressure.

Extrusion Analysis
Extrusion ratio, rx

Ao
Af

Assuming all sections

are circular, ideal
deformation, no friction,
no redundant work:
ln rx

Ram pressure

p Y f ln rx

p Y f (a b ln rx )

Taking into account friction,

where a =0.8 and b =1.2 to 1.5.

Extrusion Analysis
For direct extrusion, additional pressure, pf, required by
the extruder to overcome the wall friction is related as
follows:
p f Do2
4

pcDo L

For the worst case that the friction shear stress at the
wall equals to the shear yield strength of the work
metal:
pc Ys
The additional pressure:
The total ram pressure:
The power required:

p f Yf

2L
Do

2L

p Y f x
Do

P Fv

Extrusion Dies
For the case of non-circular extruded section, a shape
factor has to be introduced:
C
K x 0.98 0.02 x
Cc

2.25

where Kx = shape factor

Cx = perimeter of the non-circular extruded section
Co = perimeter of a circle that has the same crosssectional area as the extruded section.
For direct extrusion, the extrusion force

2L

p K xY f x
Do

Impact Extrusion
Impact extrusion is performed at higher
speeds and shorter strokes than
conventional extrusion.
It is for making discrete parts.
For making thin wall-thickness items by
permitting large deformation at high
speed.

Impact Extrusion

Figure 15.14 Schematic illustration of the impact-extrusion process. The extruded parts are stripped
by the use of a stripper plate, because they tend to stick to the punch.

Impact Extrusion

Forward

backward

combination

Examples of Cold
Extrusion

Figure 15.11 Two examples of cold extrusion. Thin arrows indicate the direction of metal flow during
extrusion.

Examples of Impact
Extrusion

Figure 15.15 (a) Two examples of products made by impact extrusion. (b) and (c) Impact
extrusion of a collapsible tube by the Hooker process.

Cold Extruded Spark

Plug

Figure 15.12 Production steps for a cold extruded

spark plug.

Figure 15.13 A cross-section of the metal part in Fig.

15.12, showing the grain flow pattern.

Factors Influencing the

Forces

Friction
Material Properties
Reduction In Area
Speed
Temperature
Geometry Of The Die

WIRE
DRAWING

WIRE DRAWING

WIRE DRAWING

WIRE DRAWING

Process Variables in
Wire Drawing

Figure 15.18 Process variables in wire drawing. The die angle, the reduction
in cross-sectional area per pass, the speed of drawing, the temperature, and the
lubrication all affect the drawing force, F.

Draw Dies

Approach angle about 6 to 20

Back relief angle about 30

Die for Round Drawing

Figure 15.20 Terminology
of a typical die used for
drawing round rod or
wire.

Figure 15.21 Tungsten- carbide

die insert in a steel casing.
Diamond dies, used in drawing
thin wire, are encased in a similar
manner.

Die Materials Overview

Tungsten Carbide:
Lowest cost, shock resistance, ease of production, large sizes
available.
Lower life expectancy.
Natural Diamonds:
Wear resistance, gives excellent wire surface, high thermal
conductivity, longer life expectancy
Susceptible to fractures from shock or wear, limited availability
in required high quality and quantity, constantly escalating price.
Synthetic Single Crystal:
Consistently uniform material, gives excellent wire surface, high
thermal conductivity, predictable wear schedule, uniform wear
pattern gives longer life expectancy.
Larger size ranges are still costly at this time.
Polycrystalline Diamond:
Excels in life expectancy, wear resistance of diamond, shock
resistance of carbide, high availability, cost effectiveness
Higher drawing force, smaller fines requires more filtration, may
be damaged by temperatures above 700C, wire surface
condition less than from natural diamond.

Examples of Tube-Drawing
Operations

Figure 15.19 Examples of tube-drawing operations, with and without an internal mandrel.
Note that a variety of diameters and wall thicknesses can be produced from the same initial
tube stock (which has been made by other processes).

Drawing Equipment
Good dimensional
control
Good surface finish
Improved
mechanical
properties
economic for mass
production

Cold Drawing

Figure 15.23 Cold drawing of an extruded channel on a draw bench, to reduce its cross-section.
Individual lengths of straight rod or of cross-sections are drawn by this method. Source:
Courtesy of The Babcock and Wilcox Company, Tubular Products Division.

Multistage WireDrawing

Figure 15.24 Two views of a multistage wire-drawing machine that is typically used in the
making of copper wire for electrical wiring. Source: H. Auerswald.

Roll Straightening

Figure 15.22 Schematic illustration of roll straightening of a drawn round rod (see also Fig.
13.7).

Wire and Bar Drawing

Reducing the cross section of a bar, rod or wire by pulling

it through a die.
Bar drawing is generally in a batch mode while the wire
drawing is in general in a continuous mode.

pd

Drawing
die angle

Stresses and drawing pressure

variation in deformation zone.

Drawing die
(deformation zone)

2
3
Ao

Af

pd

Fig. 5.2 Stress and strain development in wire

and rod drawing process

=
ln(Ao/Af)

Effective strain variation in

deformation zone.

pd=K/(n+1) n+1

K n

Fig. 5.4 Stresses and drawing pressure for

maximum reduction of area.

Mechanics of Drawing
Area reduction in drawing r

Ao A f

; Draft

Ao

d Do D f

No friction and true strain ln Ao ln 1

1 r

Af

The ideal stress Y f Y f ln

Ao
Af

Ao

Taking into account friction and die angle, d Y f 1 tan ln A
f
Do D f
D

D
D
o
f
where 0.88 0,.12 , D
Lc
2 sin
2
Lc

The drawing force

Ao
F Af d Af Y f 1
ln
tan
Af

Maximum Reduction
Assume perfectly plastic material (n=0), no friction, no
redundant work,
Ao
Ao
1
d Y f ln
Y ln
Y ln
Y
Af
Af
1 r

Then

ln Ao A f ln 1 1 r 1
Ao A f 1 1 r e

max 1.0
The maximum possible area ratio Ao A f e 2.7183
The maximum possible reduction

rmax e 1 e 0.632