Numerical simulation of continuous extrusion forming of hollow copper conductor

The common extruding method can only fabricate the finite length billet. However, the continuous extrusion forming (CONFORM) can realize the unlimited continuous extruding by the friction force generated from the relative movement between the squeegee roller and ingot. Furthermore, comparing with the common extruding method, the processing flow can be shortened and the efficiency can be improved with CONFORM. For CONFORM process of the hollow copper conductor, deformation resistance and the deformation temperature is very high. In order to ensure the integrity of mould and fabricate the qualified conductor, the metal temperature field, hydro-static pressure and strain rate in the welded-chamber need to be well known. In this paper, the continuous extrusion forming process of the hollow copper conductor was simulated with perfect-plastic finite element method. The effects of height of the welded-chamber on the hydro-static pressure and metal strain rate were analyzed. At the same time, the influences of different mould split ratios on the mould outlet flow rate and hydro-static pressure were studied. According to the numerical results, the optimized mould structure was designed.