Optimization of die profile for improving die life in the hot extrusion process

An improved method to obtain the optimal die profile which yields more uniform surface-load distribution on die profile surface via integrating finite element analysis is applied to the hot extrusion process. The die profile of the hot extrusion is represented by a cubic-spline curve. Updated sequential quadratic programming (SQP) method is adopted to accomplish the optimum calculation for unsteady metal forming based on the rigid-viscoplastic finite element method (FEM). The analysis for unsteady metal forming has been performed to simulate the process on the die curve acquired from optimum calculation. The above approach can improve the die life in hot extrusion processes. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.