Effects of guiding angle on plastic metal flow and defects in extrusion of aluminum alloy

To reduce defects, such as the shrinkage cavity and the surface cracks caused by non-homogeneous metal flow in extrusion process, an extrusion method was proposed by using a die with the guiding angle. Numerical simulation and experiment were conducted to investigate the metal flow in this extrusion process. It is shown that the stress state at the bottom of the die is changed. The tendency to generate the dead zone is decreased by employing the guiding angle at the die entrance. The shrinkage cavity is reduced because the non-homogeneous metal flow at the final stage of extrusion is improved. The axial stress is decreased greatly so that the surface cracks caused by additional stress are avoided.