Amelioration of die performance for hot brass extrusion: Laboratory and field study

Optimizing the performance of an extrusion die is a complex procedure involving understanding the reasons of failure of the original die, choosing materials with the desirable properties, selecting the appropriate design of the die for the foreseen profile and finally combine material and design and choose the optimum manufacturing procedure for the particular case. In the present investigation, a brass extrusion die of a hinge profile was selected for ameliorating its performance. The original die presented design and material problems, such as fatigue initiation of cracks and deterioration of its toughness due to aging phenomena. Three new designs, four materials and two methods of bonding of the insert with the housing were investigated in order to improve the performance of the die. The preliminary results showed an improvement of about 2.5 times of the original die performance.