Study of a modified ECAP die for producing nanostructured Al6060 alloy using 3D finite element simulation

Using Finite Element Method (FEM) simulations is possible to study the homogeneity of deformation in the Equal Channel Angular Pressing (ECAP) process. In this work an investigation about the influence of a modified die on strain distribution in an ecaped Al6060 alloy was carried out. Due to that, tensile stress occurs in the vicinity of upper surface of the specimen in the severe plastic deformation zone, which increases the cracking and fracture tendency of the specimen and impedes further ECAP processing, the conventional ECAP die was modified to eliminate the tensile stress and enhance the compressive stress in the severe plastic deformation zone and reducing the cracking and fracture tendency of the specimen. Finite element analysis demonstrated that the stress state changes from tensile to strongly compressive when using the modified die. The aim of this study is to evaluate the advantages/disadvantages of the modified ECAP die and processing conditions.