PRODUCTION OF TUBULAR COMPONENTS BY RADIAL EXTRUSION - A FINITE-ELEMENT ANALYSIS

Recent experimental work on radial extrusion of tubular components pre sents new results relevant to the process and die design. This paper p resents a comprehensive analysis of the process using the finite eleme nt method. Results show good agreement with metal experiments namely i n what concerns the prediction of the material flow as a function of t he major process parameters. The performed analysis enabled the author s to design of a two step radial extrusion technique predicted to allo w an extension of the formability limits for the production of tubular components. Preliminary tests in aluminum confirm the advantage of us ing this technique.