A Training Report On

EXTRUSION PROCESS

Bachelor of Technology
In
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Under the Supervision of:-

Submitted By:-

Mr. S.K.Arora

Aditya Singh

(Asst. Manager)

B.Tech. 4th year

Mechanical Eng.
1116440010

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I have a great pleasure in expressing my deep sense of gratitude

indebtedness to my training supervisor and co-ordinator,Mr. S.K. Arora for his
inspiring guidance, invaluable discussions for giving the utmost freedom and
flexibility throughout progress of this Training work.
I have a gratification in expressing my sincere thanks to Dean and ,Head
of the Department of Mechanical Engineering Dr. NitinSrivastava, , Pranveer
Singh Institute of Technology, Kanpur, for providing opportunity to go for
industrial training. However I have strided hard to gain knowledge during the
training and present a good report.
Above all, I am forever thankful to my parents for their love and
encouragement.

Date: - 1stJuly 2014

Aditya Singh

List of Contents
Contents

Page No.

Introduction

01

Classification of extrusion processes

02

on basis of direction
(i)Direct extrusion
(ii)Indirect extrusion

03
04

on basis of operating temperature

(i)Hot extrusion

06

(ii)Cold extrusion

07

on basis of equipment
(i)Vertical extrusion

08

(ii)Horizontal extrusion

09

Extrusion equipments

Extrusion dies

Extrusion tools

10

Lubrication

13

Defects in extrusion

15

Extrusion products

17

INTRODUCTION
Extrusion is a process used to create objects ofa fixed cross-sectional profile. A
material ispushed or drawn through a die of the desiredcross-section. The two main
advantages of thisprocess over other manufacturing processes areits ability to create very
complex cross-sections,and to work materials that are brittle, becausethe material only
encounters compressive andshear stresses. It also forms parts with an excellent surface finish.
Extrusion may be continuous (theoreticallyproducing indefinitely long material) or semicontinuous (producing many pieces). Theextrusion process can be done with the materialhot
or cold.
Commonly extruded materials include metals,polymers , ceramics, concrete, play
dough, andfoodstuffs. The products of extrusion aregenerally called "extrudates".Hollow
cavities within extruded material cannotbe produced using a simple flat extrusion die,because
there would be no way to support thecenter barrier of the die. Instead, the dieassumes the
shape of a block with depth,beginning first with a shape profile thatsupports the center
section. The die shape theninternally changes along its length into the finalshape, with the
suspended center piecessupported from the back of the die.
ExtrusionProcess of a round blank through adie.The process begins by heating the
stockmaterial (for hot or warm extrusion). It is thenloaded into the container in the press. A
dummyblock is placed behind it where the ram thenpresses on the material to push it out of
thedie. Afterward the extrusion is stretched inorder to straighten it. If better properties
arerequired then it may be heat treated or cold worked .The extrusion ratio is defined as the
startingcross-sectional area divided by the cross-sectional area of the final extrusion. One of
themain advantages of the extrusion process is thatthis ratio can be very large while still
producingquality parts.

CLASSIFICATION OF EXTRUSION PROCESS

On Basis of Direction
(i)Direct extrusion
Plot of forces required by various extrusionprocesses.Direct extrusion, also known as
forwardextrusion, is the most common extrusion process.It works by placing the billet in a
heavy walledcontainer. The billet is pushed through the dieby a ram or screw. There is a
reusable dummyblock between the ram and the billet to keepthem separated. The major
disadvantage of thisprocess is that the force required to extrudethe billet is greater than that
needed in theindirect extrusion process because of thefrictional forces introduced by the need
for thebillet to travel the entire length of thecontainer. Because of this the greatest
forcerequired is at the beginning of process andslowly decreases as the billet is used up. At
theend of the billet the force greatly increasesbecause the billet is thin and the material
mustflow radially to exit the die. The end of thebillet (called the butt end) is not used for
thisreason.

Fig: Schemtic view of direct extrusion

(ii)Indirect extrusion
In indirect extrusion, also known as backwardsextrusion, the billet and container
movetogether while the die is stationary. The die isheld in place by a "stem" which has to be
longerthan the container length. The maximum lengthof the extrusion is ultimately dictated
by thecolumn strength of the stem. Because the billetmoves with the container the frictional

forcesare eliminated.

Fig: Schemtic view of indirect extrusion

On Basis of Operating Temperature

(i)Hot extrusion
Hot extrusion is a hot working process, whichmeans it is done above the
material'srecrystallization temperature to keep thematerial from work hardening and to make
iteasier to push the material through the die.Most hot extrusions are done on
horizontalhydraulic presses that range from 230 to 11,000metric tons (250 to 12,130 short
tons).Pressures range from 30 to 700 MPa (4,400 to101,500 psi), therefore lubrication is
required,which can be oil or graphite for lowertemperature extrusions, or glass powder
forhigher temperature extrusions. The biggestdisadvantage of this process is its cost
formachinery and its upkeep.
The extrusion process is generally economicalwhen producing between several
kilograms(pounds) and many tons, depending on thematerial being extruded. There is a
crossoverpoint where roll forming becomes moreeconomical. For instance, some steels
becomemore economical to roll if producing more than20,000 kg (50,000 lb).

Fig:Hot Extrusion
Aluminium hot extrusion die Front side of a four family die. Forreference, the die is 228 mm
(9.0 in) indiameter.Close up of the shape cut into the die. Noticethat the walls are drafted and
that the backwall thickness varies.Back side of die. The wall thickness of theextrusion is 3
mm (0.12 in).

(ii)Cold extrusion

Cold extrusion is done at room temperature ornear room temperature. The advantages
of thisover hot extrusion are the lack of oxidation,higher strength due to cold working ,
closertolerances, good surface finish, and fastextrusion speeds if the material is subject tohot
shortness .
Materials that are commonly cold extrudedinclude: lead , tin, aluminum, copper ,
zirconium,titanium , molybdenum, beryllium , vanadium,niobium, and steel .Examples of
products produced by this processare: collapsible tubes, fire extinguisher cases,shock
absorber cylinders and gear blanks.

Fig: Cold extrusion

On Basis of Equipment
(i)Vertical extrusion
Vertical extrusion generally used in the production of thin-wall tubing.uniform
deformation, due to uniform cooling of the billet in the container. Need considerable
headroom to make extrusions of appreciable length. A floor pit is necessary
Advantages:
Easier alignment between the press ram and tools.
Higher rate of production.
Require less floor space than horizontal presses.

Horizontal extrusion
Horizontal extrusion take place in impact extrusion of spindle by hydrollicaction.In
horizontal extrusion load carrying capacity is high (from 15-35to 140MN)

Advantages

Used for most commercial extrusion of bars and shapes.

deformation is non-uniform due to different temperatures between top

andbottom parts of the billet.

EXTRUSION EQUIPMENTS
Extrusion of thermoplastics is a process in which the material is melted by external heat
frictional heat and conveyed forward by a screw to the opening of the die, which givesthe
shape of the required product. Extrusion process is a continuous process by whichmany
products like Films, Raffia tapes, Pipes, Sheets, Mono filaments, Fiber andFilaments can be
manufactured

Extruders
Extruders comprise of Hopper, Barrel/Screw and Dies. Figure 1 shows the
components
of a modern extruder.

Hopper

All the extruders have an opening in the barrel wall at the driven end, through which
theplastic granules enter the extruder. The hopper, a simple sheet - metal enclosure,
ismounted above that opening and holds about an hour's capacity material. Hopper isprovided
with heating system, if the material has to be preheated before entering theextruder.

Screw
This is the heart of the extruder. Screw conveys the molten polymer to the opening of
the die after properly homogenizing the molten polymer.

Mixing Heads

The metering section of a standard screw is not a good mixer. Smooth laminar
flowpatterns are established in the channel which do not mix dissimilar elements in the
melt.Mixing devices are frequently installed in screws to disrupt these flow patterns
andimprove melt homogenization.

Breaker Plate / Screen Pack

Breaker plate with screen packs (Fig. 9) inserted are kept in the adapter which is a
jointbetween the end of the extruder and the beginning of the die. This assembly has
severalfunctions
Arrest the rotational flow of the melt and convert into axial flow
Improves melt homogeneity by splitting and recombining the flow
Improves mixing by increasing back pressure
Removes any contaminants and unmelt

Dies
Various types of dies are used for processing PVC and PE/PP. They can be
eitherAnnular dies or Flat dies (T-Die or Coat hanger dies). Details of various dies are given
inAnneure 1.

LUBRICATION
Lubrication is the most efficient method in order to reduce the negative effects of
friction. Lubrication provides a uniform material flow thus decreases the extrusion force
required for the process and increases the tool life. However a lubricant which is suitable to
the properties of extrusion material and the extrusion temperature should be selected and a
homogeneous lubrication should be applied. Otherwise various extrusion faults can occur
during process.
The effect of friction on the material flow and the extrusion load can be reduced partly
or completely by applying a suitable and homogeneous lubrication.There are two ways to
reduce the friction force and to lubricate the parts in extrusion processes.

Manual Lubrication of Press Tools

Manual lubrication methods are primarily used where automatic lubrication is not
possible. They are most often used where automation is not possible due to space, budgetary,
or process constraints. In fact, there are certain tools, such as the die ring, container ring, and
related die components cannot reasonably be lubricated automatically. Manual methods,
when compared to automatic alternatives are often slow, inconsistent, and potentially unsafe.
For this reason, the trend is now (and will likely continue to be) toward the use of automatic
applicators fordispensing liquids, powders and solid waxes.

Fig: Lubrication internal side of machine

Automatic Lubrication of Press Tools

Automatic press tool lubrication can be used to improve extrusion press efficiency,
safety,and repeatability. Specifically, the use of automatic lubrication for butt shear blades,
log sheartools, fixed dummy blocks, and billet scalpers, is now in common use; other areas
such as piercing mandrels are under consideration.
Manual and automatic lubrication of press tools is well documented to provide
improvements in cut and quality, while at the same time reducing or eliminating metal hangup and sticking if performed on a regular basis. The technology is at a point where the
combination of application-specific chemicals, used in combination with the proper
applicator system, can be expected to operate continuously and predictably to provide these
results. As with all forms of automation, automatic spray lubrication requires scheduled
maintenance and adjustment so as to optimize expected results.

EXTRUSION DEFECTS
Inhomogeneous deformation in direct extrusion provides the dead zone along the outer
surface of the billet due to the movement of the metal in the center being higher than the
periphery.
After 2/3 of the billet is extruded, the outer surface of the billet (normally with
oxidized skin) moves toward the center and extrudes to the through the die, resulting in
internal oxide stringers. - Transverse section can be seen as an annular ring of oxide
.

Fig: Inhomogeneous deformation in tubes

If lubricant film is carried into the interior of the extrusion along the shear bands, this will
show as longitudinal laminations in a similar way as oxide
Surface cracking, ranging from a badly roughened surface to repetitive transverse cracking
called fir-tree cracking. This is due to longitudinal tensile stresses generated as the extrusion
passes through the die.

Fig: Surface cracking in extrusion dies

Too high extrusion speed, too large a friction too high a temperature may result in
formation of surface cracks. Fir-tree cracks are transverse cracks which often occur in aluminum
or magnesium due to hot shortness. Longitudinal tensile stresses may be induced on the outer
layer, causing the cracks. At lower temperatures, stick-slip phenomenon may cause cracks
especially in hydrostatic extrusion where pressures are very high. Sticking may happen due to
thick viscous oil film.

Centre burst or chevron cracking, can occur at lowextrusion ratio due to low frictional
conditions on the zone of deformation at the extrusion die
High friction (at a the tool-billet interface) a sound product.
Low friction center burst.

Variations in structure and properties within the extrusions

due to non-uniform deformation for example at the front and the back of the
extrusion in both longitudinal and transverse directions.

Regions of exaggerated grain growth, see Fig, due to high hot working temperature.

EXTRUSION PRODUCTS
Food

Fig: Elbow macaroni is an extruded hollow pasta.

With the advent of industrial manufacturing, extrusion found application in food
processing of instant foods and snacks, along with its already known uses in plastics and
metal fabrication. Products such as certain pastas, many breakfast cereals, premade cookie
dough, some French fries, certain baby foods, dry or semi-moist pet food and ready-to-eat
snacks are mostly manufactured by extrusion. It is also used to produce modified starch, and
to pelletize animal feed.

Drug carriers
For use in pharmaceutical products, extrusion through Nano-porous, polymeric filters
is being used to produce suspensions of lipid vesicles liposomes or transverses with a
particular size of a narrow size distribution. The anti-cancer drug Doxorubicin in liposome
delivery system is formulated by extrusion, for example.

Biomass briquettes
The extrusion production technology of fuel briquettes is the process of extrusion
screw wastes (straw, sunflower husks, buckwheat, etc.) or finely shredded wood waste
(sawdust) under high pressure when heated from 160 to 350 C. The resulting
fuel briquettes do not include any of the binders, but one natural the lignin contained in the
cells of plant wastes. The temperature during compression causes melting of the surface of
bricks, making it more solid, which is important for the transportation of briquettes.

Extruded parts:

Fig: Complex cross-section tubes

Commonly use phosphate coatings Extrusion is suited for producing seamless pipe
and tubing, especially for metals which are difficult to work. The red-hot billet is rotated and
drawn by rolls over a piercing rod, or mandrel. The action of the rolls causes the metal to
flow over and about the mandrel to create a hollow pipe shell.After reheating, the shell is
moved forward over a support bar and is hot-rolled in several reducing/sizing stands to the
desired wall thickness and diameter.