FEM simulations of the extrusion of complex thin-walled aluminium sections

The finite element method can be used for the simulation of the extrusion process. However, the application of this kind of simulations in the extrusion industry is limited because of the complexity involved. In this paper, a method is presented for the simulation of the extrusion of complex profiles, which can be used in an industrial environment. To this end, the bearing area is modelled with an equivalent bearing model. In this way, it is possible to describe the resistance in the bearing without using a large number of elements. To avoid the time-consuming and complex work necessary for the development of the FEM model for a particular die, a specialised pre-processor is developed. This pre-processor provides a direct link between the die design in the CAD system Pro/Engineer and the simulations in the FEM code DiekA. The method is demonstrated for a particular die and the results are compared to results obtained in practise. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.