Analysis of the deformation state of the hollow Al-profiles extrusion process by the microstructural method application

Abstract

The study of the structural state of the after-deforming material can provide a lot of useful information concerning the concrete plastic deforming process. On the basis of an adequate analysis it is possible to determine the stress/strain ratio in the plastic deformation zone and the material flow kinematics as well as the degree of work-hardening of the material, structural defects and structure transformation, the limit deformability of the material and so on. For the deformation state analysis the microstructural method has proved itself to be a very efficient and simple one. However, the application of this method has so far been mostly related to the process of deforming steel materials in the cold state. The paper shows that the method can be successfully applied to aluminium and its alloys as well just as it can be used for very intricate deformation processes such as the Al-profiles extrusion in the hot state. The developed software provides for a fast, easy and accurate calculation; it can also serve as one of the modules in the automated system for experimental data measurement and processing.