Effect of Die Geometry Properties on Forming of Micro-Parts by Forward-Backward Extrusion of 6063 Aluminum Alloy

The recent trend towards miniaturization of products and technology has boosted a strong demand for such metallic micro-parts with micro features and high tolerances. Conventional forming technologies, such as extrusion and drawing, have encountered new challenges at the micro-scale level due to the ‘size effects’ that tends to be predominant at this scale level. Friction is one of the predominant factors exercising strong effects in micro-forming. Previous studies varied grain size of the test pieces in order to examine size effects in micro-extrusion. In addition, the effects on the extrusion load, forming shape, as well as hardness of different grain sizes, die coatings and lubricants were compared. DLC coating has been proven effective as a die coating. Increasing grain size was effective with lubricants having high viscosity. In this study, the effect of different die Properties is compared and examined.