Effects of temperature, die angle and number of passes on the extrusion of 6063 aluminium alloy: experimental and numerical study

It is generally known that factors affecting the extrusion process, such as the number of passes, temperature and die angle, among others, significantly affect the mechanical properties of extruded aluminum. Therefore, altering these process parameters may have an impact on the qualities of extruded products. Utilizing equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) method, these parameters were discovered to influence the tensile strength and hardness of aluminum 6063 series. Experimental design was done with Design Expert software. The interactive impacts of the process factors were verified with analysis of variance (ANOVA). An empirical mathematical model that demonstrates the relationship between the inputs and responses was developed using the response surface methodology approach. Temperature was shown to have the most impact on the hardness and tensile strength as a response, whilst die angle had the least effect. After extrusion at various combinations of variables, there was a noticeable improvement in the tensile strength and hardness. At 150°, 500 °C, and 1 extrusion pass, the optimum input variable was obtained.