ICEB-International Conference on Extrusion and Benchmark

Establishing numerical tools able to reliably analyze a manufacturing process takes a long time not only for their development, but also for proper validation through experimental trials in a wide range of processing conditions. In order to provide the extrusion industry and community with a place to discuss numerical techniques and to train users in FEM simulations, the ICEB – International Conference on Extrusion and Benchmark conference series was established in 2007.1 The aim of the conference was, and is still today, to merge the typical conference format (with presentation of papers from academia as well as industry) with a benchmark session where participants are asked to analyze a specific extrusion problem, the results of which are disclosed only during the conference. Within the benchmark session, in order to provide a solid point of comparison between experiments and simulations, it is extremely important that experimental trials provide clear indications on critical aspects of the process. For these reasons, different die and process settings are designed at every benchmark.2-7 For the 2017 edition, the benchmark session was focused on the evaluation of the effect of different die design strategies on profile quality and distortions of two thin C-shaped hollow profiles. Due to the success of the past 2015 edition,8 the 2017 ICEB conference was once again merged with the 10th Aluminium Two Thousand World Congress. The event was held in the city of Verona, Italy, from June 20-24, 2017 in conjunction with the Metef aluminum exposition. The numbers of the Verona 2017 event were surprising, with 315 participants coming from 36 countries. A total of 100 technical papers were presented and the conference was attended by academic researchers and managers from global players in the aluminum market together with die makers, extruders, aluminum producers, and software developers. American, German, and Italian delegates were the most numerous participants. However, the presence of experts from Europe, China, Asia, and North and South America was proof of the importance of this unique event. Technical papers were selected and evaluated by members of wide scientific and industrial committees.