MODELLING AND SIMULATION OF DYNAMIC MICROSTRUCTURE EVOLUTION OF ALUMINIUM ALLOYS DURING THERMOMECHANICALLY COUPLED EXTRUSION PROCESS

The purpose of this work is to model the dynamic microstructure evolution of aluminium alloys during hot metal forming processes such as extrusion. To this end, a phenomenological model based on the physical assumption that evolution of microstructure properties saturates after reaching the steady-state forming conditions is formulated. This model in combination with a thermo-elastic viscoplastic material model is implemented in the Finite Element (FE) software Abaqus. Simulation results for the microstructural development during extrusion as a function of process conditions demonstrate the sensitivity of microstructure development to these conditions. Comparison of the simulation results for the microstructure evolution with corresponding experimental results show good qualitative agreement.