Author(s)

Ngoy Moïse Raphaël Moramess¹, Mulaja Tshakatumba Constantin^1*, Tshipeshi Makina Héritier¹, Ntambwe Sapu Aaron², Tubadi Diamba José³, Mwema Mutamba Edouard¹

¹Metallography and Materials Laboratory, Department of Metallurgy and Materials Science, Polytechnic Faculty of the University of Lubumbashi, Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo.
²2Electrical Engineering Laboratory, Department of Electromechanics, Polytechnic Faculty of the University of Lubumbashi, Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo.
³Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Industrial Engineer, University of Likasi, Likasi, Democratic Republic of Congo.

This study aimed to optimize cross-sectional area of the extruder and the flow rate of the material through the extruder. Extrusion process was first modelized using the continuum mechanics method before being simulated with the commercial software LS-DYNA using the Johnson-Cook model based on the finite element method after optimization of the factors with simplex algorithm. The study was carried out on a connecting rod: diameter of 145 mm, cross-section of 1.65 m², length of 0.25 m, volume of 0.41 m³ and a mass of 37 kg. Optimum parameters obtained were temperature of 850℃, flow rate of 0.237 m/s, die diameter of 19.2 mm, pin diameter of 14 mm, extrusion strength of 565.6 kN and press pressure of 245 GPa. From these factors, a blank was obtained with external and internal diameters of 19.2 and 14 mm respectively over a length of 28 m with a thickness of 2.6 mm. Simulation using LS-DYNA software resulted in a difference in values of 7.4% between optimization and simulation when the difference of 2.4% was found between modelling and simulation. These values make the process optimal for industrial application to improve the extrusion requirements of copper tubes.

Copper Extrusion, Mathematical Modelling, Numerical Simulation, Simplex Algorithm, LS-DYNA Software

Moramess, N. , Constantin, M. , Héritier, T. , Aaron, N. , José, T. and Edouard, M. (2022) Mathematical and Numerical Modelling of Copper Tube Extrusion after Optimizing Geometrical and Operating Parameters. Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering, 10, 127-138. doi: 10.4236/jmmce.2022.102010.