An investigation into the effective parameters in optimal design of ECAP-Conform process of commercially pure titanium using statistical and numerical approaches

The Equal Channel Angular Pressing-Conform (ECAP-Conform) process improves the mechanical and functional properties of materials and overcomes the disadvantages of conventional Equal Channel Angular Pressing (ECAP). The main objective of this study is to investigate the variable in the ECAP-Conform process of pure titanium Grade 2. The design of experiments with full factorial technique was implemented in conjunction with finite element numerical simulation. The equivalent plastic strain, required torque, applied force on the ECAP die, and the warping radius of the product were measured, and the results were interpreted using analysis of variance. It was found that the ECAP die angles and the rod bending angle had the highest e ect on both imposed strain and required torque. Further, the rod bending angle and the rod-die friction had no significant e ect on the warping radius. The optimal values were specified for minimizing the required torque, reaction force, and warping radius and maximizing the imposed strain. Based on the optimal estimated parameters, the minimum values of torque, force, and warping radius and maximum value of equivalent strain were predicted to be 8.4 kN.m, 42 kN, 0.36 m, and 1.7, respectively. Moreover, compared to the case of numerical simulation, the response optimizer obtained the results with less than 8% error.