Comparison of different FEM codes approach for Extrusion process analysis

The simulation of the extrusion process by means of FE codes has been applied in a great number of papers available in literature but its application in everyday production was limited due to several factors like computational times, user’s skills as well as prediction accuracy. Indeed, the inner complexity of the process, characterized by extremely high deformations, strain rates and heat exchange phenomena, has lead only in the last few year commercial FE codes to gain sufficient accurate solving capabilities. In the paper, five FEM codes based on different approaches were applied in the simulation of the same experiment: the results were compared in term of set-up times, computational time as well as process prediction accuracy. Process load, profile speeds, die and profile temperatures were accurately monitored during the experiment in order to realize an effective comparison of the different FEM codes approaches.