Simulation of the microstructure evolution during the extrusion of two industrial-scale AA6063 profiles

The microstructure of lightweight alloys is of a primary interest for manufacturing companies since it affects mechanical strength, crash, corrosion and esthetic properties. Numerical and experimental research activities are needed to investigate the relation between manufacturing process parameters and grain structure evolution in order to control the properties of the final component. In this context, aim of this work is the experimental investigation of the evolution of the microstructure in two different industrial-scale AA6063 aluminum alloy extruded profiles. Furthermore, a novel modeling of the AA6063 recrystallization behaviour is developed and implemented within the commercial FEM code Qform UK Extrusion®. The results of the numerical evaluations are then compared to the experimental data in order to assess the accuracy of the model. A good correlation between numerical predictions and experimental data is found for both profiles, thus proving the reliability of the proposed AA6063 recrystallization model.