OPTIMIZATION AND INFLUENCE OF PROCESS PARAMETERS ON ECAD SECTION SHRINKAGE OF 7075 Al ALLOY

The phenomenon of section shrinkage during the equal channel angular drawing (ECAD) process significantly impacts the dimensional precision of a specimen’s cross-section, posing a challenge for the industrial implementation of this forming technique. To address this problem, a numerical simulation of the 7075 Al alloy during the ECAD process was conducted using Deform-3D, which revealed the influence of process parameters on ECAD section shrinkage. Through analyzing the results of the orthogonal design, the importance of various process parameters on section shrinkage was researched using range analysis and analysis of variance. A multi-objective optimization approach utilizing a genetic algorithm was developed to determine the optimal process parameter combination, subsequently validated through ECAD experiments. The results demonstrate that shrinkage decreases as the inner and outer angles of the die increase, while it increases with higher friction coefficients and drawing speeds. Among these process parameters, the inner angle is found to have the most significant influence on shrinkage, followed by the friction coefficient and the outer angle, while the drawing speed has the least impact on shrinkage which can be considered negligible. Consequently, the optimal combination of process parameters is identified as an inner angle of 120°, an outer angle of 90°, and a friction coefficient of 0.11.