Die Design for Extrusion Process of Titanium Seamless Tube Using Finite Element Analysis

In this paper, the extrusion process of titanium seamless tubes was studied using several finite element (FE) analyses. First, the finite element result was compared with experimental extrusion data acquired to validate the current analysis. Then, the effect of design parameters of the die shape was numerically analyzed using commercial FE software, Forge NxT, for the metal forming process. Elastic FE analyses were also conducted for dies to analyze the maximum principal stress that affects the early fracture of dies during the extrusion process and the maximum von Mises stress that causes the severe deformation of dies. Consequently, the effect of the corner radius at the exit and land length on the extrusion load and die stress is negligible compared to that of the corner radius at the entrance and die angle. Finally, we suggested a die angle of 60° and a corner radius at the die entrance between 10 and 15 mm as an optimal design for the current extrusion process.