Plastic flow and strain homogeneity of an equal channel angular pressing process enhanced through forward extrusion

The plastic deformation behavior of forward extrusion, equal channel angular pressing, and a combination of the forward extrusion and equal channel angular pressing processes are analyzed by the finite element method. Simulations were carried out under realistic conditions by considering the strain hardening of the material and the degree of friction. Strain homogeneity in the combined processes is also compared to that of the individual forward extrusion and equal channel angular pressing processes. The plastic flow is more complicated and the strain induced is non-uniform in the combined processes. However, the combined processes show no corner gap formation. Moreover, it led to the development of higher strains in a single step compared to the individual processes. In addition, the load requirements for the combined processes are higher than the summation of loads of the individual processes.