Increased Productivity in Hot Aluminum Extrusion by Using Extrusion Dies with Inner Cooling Channels Manufactured by Rapid Tooling

The influence of local inner die cooling on the heat balance in hot aluminum extrusion was investigated. For the manufacturing of the die with cooling channels close to the forming zone, the layer-laminated manufacturing method was applied. The new tooling technology was applied in order to decrease the profiles exit temperature and to avoid thermally induced surface defects with the aim to raise the productivity in hot aluminum extrusion processes. Numerical and experimental investigations revealed that, while maintaining the exit temperature of the extrudate, a distinct increase of the production speed up to 300% can be realized, while the extrusion force increases only slightly. An effect on the profiles microstructure was also detected. By applying die cooling, grain coarsening can be significantly limited or even be avoided.