Numerical prediction of the effects of material properties on strain behavior during equal channel angular pressing

Equal channel angular pressing is both a novel and an industrialized process among severe plastic deformation methods to fabricate ultra-fine-grained metals and alloys. Verification of a three-dimensional finite element model which compares various strength coefficients and strain-hardening exponents (virtual materials) defined for the plastic deformation behavior of materials was performed with experimental tests. The virtual process numerically analyzed the effects of the strain behavior and pressing force. The results show that strength coefficient enhancement leads to decreased effective strain value, heterogeneous strain distribution and higher pressing force, and an increment in the strain-hardening exponent results in lower pressing force. However, this parameter does not have an obvious effect on the effective strain magnitude and strain dispersal uniformity. Furthermore, the highest imposed effective strain, the best strain distribution homogeneity and the lowest required punch load were achieved for the deformed material with the lowest strength coefficient and highest strain-hardening exponent.