How to extend the service life of the aluminum extrusion die

Posted on : May 7, 2022 By  GREFEE

The aluminum extrusion die is widely used due to its excellent deformation capability, production flexibility, simple machining process, and low investment in equipment. Products made from aluminum extrusion die are high quality and have a wide application. However, the disadvantages of this die include imbalanced structure properties, the high cost of the extrusion die, and low production efficiency. The aluminum extrusion material includes pipe, profile and bar, and other types, which are mainly applied in industries, like it is used in the transportation industry, durable consumer goods manufacturing industry, mechanical equipment manufacturing industry, electronics industry, chemical industry, power equipment industry, construction industry and other industries.

Except for the structural design, strength, material, cold and heat treatment, and electrical processing technology, there are also many factors affect the service life of the industrial aluminum extrusion die, like the extrusion technology, use conditions, mold maintenance and repairing, properties and shapes of the extruded material, specifications and management, etc.  in this article, we will share some some methods which will help you to extend the service life of your aluminum extrusion dies. GREFEE believes that we need to extend the life of molds from these aspects:

（1）Except for the structural design, strength, material, cold and heat treatment, and electrical processing technology, many factors affect the service life of the industrial aluminum extrusion die, like the extrusion technology, use conditions, mold maintenance and repairing, properties and shapes of the extruded material, specifications, and management, etc. in this article, we will share some methods which will help you to extend the service life of your aluminum extrusion dies. GREFEE believes that we need to extend the life of molds from these aspects:

Meanwhile, the standard design is for exchange, storage, and maintenance. Typically, the rational mold structure design is the primary path to enhance the quality of the aluminum extrusion die and extend the service life of dies compared to high strength, core, design theories, innovative methods, and computer-aided design.

（2）Mold material: The extrusion mold material selection should be reasonable. Thus, due to the high-temperature working conditions and effect of periodic load, it has a high requirement for the properties of the mold steel. Thus, the mold material has excellent thermal consistency, heat fatigue property, thermal wear resistance, and enough tenacity.

Currently, the mold material is the 4Cr5MoSiV1and3Cr2W8V steel. However, in recent years, due to the poor toughness, fatigue strength, short term validity of the 3Cr2W8V steel, a new type of steel like 4Cr5MoSiV1 has excellent hardening ability, heat resistance, high impact toughness, low thermal fatigue resistance, good deformation resistance, good crack resistance, the surface roughness of extruded industrial aluminum profile. “Mo 4971” has excellent high-temperature performance and comprehensive quality. Of course, mold martial selection is also a complicated issue and is involved in a wide range. Only by developing new materials and improving the material quality, researching and developing new heat treatment techniques, and combining these technologies with the surface strengthening treatment, we can extend the service life of molds.

(3) to increase the quality of the heat treatment and surface treatment, the service life of the extrusion molds depends on the heat treatment quality to a large extent. Hence, advanced heat, strengthening, and toughening treatments are vital for long service life. Strictly controlling the heat treatment and surface strengthening technology can prevent heat treatment defects. Adjust the coefficient of the quenching and tempering and increase the quality of pre-treatments. Besides, we need to get an accurate tempering time and processing temperature to ensure the part experienced a balanced heating and cooling intensity.

With a new quenching medium, various strengthening and toughening treatments, surface strengthening treatments, and new equipment, the industrial aluminum profile service life is guaranteed.

(4) improve the machining quality of the industrial aluminum profile mold manufacturing. In mold machining, typical methods include Machining, WEDM, and EDM. Machining is an indispensable part of this mold machining process, which not only changes the exterior dimension of the molds but also affects the quality and service life of the molds. WEDM is the best-used technique in mold machining since it improves the technology, machining efficiency, and accuracy. It also brings some particular issues, like warp mold. If it is used in production directly without tempering, it is easy to generate slag and spalling, which significantly shortens the service life of molds. Therefore, molds after WEDM with sufficient tempering can enhance their surface stress status, reduce the residual stress, and increase the life of industrial aluminum profile mold. Concentrated stress is the primary cause of mold cracking.

Within the allowable range of wire drawing design, the larger the linear cutting diameter, the better, increasing the machining efficiency and improving the stress distribution. It is an electro corrosion process through the superposition of evaporation, melting, and evaporation of materials generated during discharge. This results from the thermal amount of the cooling and heating, as well as the electrochemical action of the working fluid. The deformed layer is formed at the machining site to generate strain and stress. When the working fluid is oil, the carbon atoms are broken down by the burning of oil. Due to the diffusion and carburization of the machining surface, the thermal stress increases on the metamorphic layer and is easy to crack due to brittleness. Meanwhile, the residual stress still adheres to the workpiece and will lower the fatigue strength, accelerate the cracking and stress corrosion, etc. Thus, we should avoid the issues above for high-quality products in production.

(5) improve the working and extrusion technique conditions. Extrusion mold working in a poor environment. Thus, modifying the technique coefficient and technology plus working conditions are favorable for longer service life. Before the extrusion, a precise extrusion plan, complete equipment system and sheet specifications, rational extrusion technique coefficient (such as extrusion temperature, extrusion speed, extrusion coefficient, extrusion pressure, etc), improved working conditions (such as extrusion temperature, extrusion pressure, etc), water cooling, nitrogen cooling, and lubricate can reduce the mold workload (such as lower the extrusion pressure, cooling, and heating impact, alternating load, etc) and establish sound process operation procedures and safe operation procedures.

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