3D FEM simulations for the homogeneity of plastic deformation in Al–Cu alloys during ECAP

Equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) is a material processing method that allows very high strains to be imposed, leading to extreme work hardening and microstructural refinement. To investigate the deformation homogeneity in the transverse direction, rigid-viscoplastic 3D finite element simulations were conducted for the different numbers of ECAP passes of Al with Cu contents 0–5%. The simulation results indicated that the material on the outer side of the die channel undergoes less deformation than that in the inner side due to the formation of a corner gap. It was also found that the homogeneity increased with increasing the number of ECAP passes and the copper content due to the decrease in the size of the corner gap. To verify the 3D finite element simulation results, the microhardness homogeneity across the transverse direction of the billet was measured. The same trend was observed: the homogeneity in hardness increased with increasing the number of ECAP passes and Cu contents from 0% to 5%. The homogeneity of deformation indicated by microhardness and by FEM results was higher for route A compared with route Bc and increases with the number of ECAP passes. The homogeneity in route A was higher than that in route Bc by 10% after 2 passes up to 8 passes.