Development of Thixoextrusion Process for Light Alloys - Part 2. Thixoextrusion Process for Light Alloys

The main emphasis of this study was to utilize thixoextrusion process for improving extrudability of 7075, 7003 Al wrought alloys and AZ31 Mg wrought alloy. The results of thixbextrusion experiments about microstructures and extrusion pressures were compared with conventional hot extrusion results. The maximum extrusion pressure of thixoextrusion was greatly decreased compared with that of conventional hot extrusion. It was pointed out that the extrusion temperature dependence of the maximum extrusion pressure was large and the influence of extrusion temperature on the improvement of extrudability was remarkable in thixoextrusion. This will contribute to extrudability in terms of extrusion pressure, which in turn means that shorter process time is required and smaller extrusion machine can be applied for the same operation. The elongated grains to extrusion direction were generally observed during conventional hot extrusion, while the thixoextruded microstructures were isotropic.