Extrusion research activities at the University of Bologna-Italy

A review of the activities recently performed at the University of Bologna in the field of aluminum extrusion is here presented. A brief description on the state of the extrusion industry in Italy is initially drawn with a particular focus on the Extrusion district located in the north of Italy. There, University of Bologna is the Italian reference point for the research activities in the field of extrusion technology, process optimization and products characterization. Four main research directions are actually developed at University of Bologna in cooperation with companies and academia: seam and charge welding, process simulation, die design optimization and microstructural evolution of aluminum alloys during and after hot deformation. The paper summaries each activity with a specific focus on the main results, the applications and the possible developments for each topic.