FEM simulation of aluminum extrusion process in porthole die with pockets

In order to investigate the effects of pockets in the porthole die on the metal flow, temperature at the die bearing exit and the extrusion load were contrasted with the traditional die design without the pockets in the lower die. Two different multi-hole porthole dies with and without pockets in lower die were designed. And the extrusion process was simulated based on the commercial software DEFORM-3D. The simulation results show that the pockets could be used to effectively adjust the metal flow and especially benefit to the metal flow under the legs. In addition, the maximum temperature at the die bearing and the peak extrusion load decrease, which indicates the possibility of increasing the extrusion speed and productivity.