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In-depth Analysis and Optimization Practices of Porous Die Design for Aluminum Profiles

2024-10-05

01 Introduction
With the vigorous development of the global economy, aluminum profiles, as a lightweight and high-strength material, have been widely used in various fields such as construction, transportation, and electronics.

02 Background and Challenges of Porous Die Design for Aluminum Profiles
In the current production process of aluminum profiles, the application of porous dies has become an important means to improve production efficiency. According to statistics, the usage of porous dies exceeds 60%. However, the design and production of porous dies are not easy tasks. They require mold designers to achieve high precision in various aspects such as the layout of the分流 holes (divergent holes), flow rate control, and mold strength. Especially in the "low-temperature high-speed" production environment, the quality and stability of the mold are crucial.

03 Case Study of Design

(1) Issues with the Conventional Old Scheme
Taking the product model 17-BGY4505A-Q22210 as an example, the traditional design scheme has issues such as asymmetric layout of divergent holes and unbalanced flow rates, resulting in high pressure, uneven neck positions of the male die, large dead zones in the bridge positions, and defects such as tearing and twisting of the material samples after speed increase. These issues not only affect product quality but also increase the number of mold trials and production costs.

(2) Attempt of Optimized Scheme II
To address the above issues, the design team proposed Optimized Scheme II, which adopts a "cross-shaped bridge" and unidirectional design. This scheme exhibits advantages such as low pressure and fast extrusion speed during the "low-temperature high-speed" extrusion process. However, it also exposes defects such as large elastic deformation and severe wall deviation. Especially when dealing with profiles with cantilevered sections prone to large elastic deformation, the male die strength of this scheme is insufficient, leading to elastic deformation and shadows at the T-shaped positions. Therefore, for such profiles, the "cross-shaped bridge" design is not recommended.

(3) Further Exploration of Optimized Scheme III
Addressing the issues of Scheme II, the design team made further improvements and proposed Optimized Scheme III, which involves changing four holes to five holes. This scheme aims to improve the problem of large elastic deformation, but the mold trial results were still unsatisfactory, with defects such as uneven surfaces, neck-in, shadows at the T-shaped positions, and severe wall deviation. The analysis revealed that the five-hole scheme results in high pressure at the extrusion center, unbalanced force on the die core, and poor male die strength. Therefore, for profiles prone to large elastic deformation, the five-hole scheme is also not recommended.

(4) Comprehensively Optimized Scheme IV
Based on the summary of the first two schemes, the design team proposed the comprehensively optimized Scheme IV. This scheme makes improvements in multiple aspects: changing the design placement and discharge direction of the profile to reduce elastic deformation during the extrusion process; adjusting the thickness of the upper mold to optimize pressure relief for the feed bridge; increasing the number of divergent holes to achieve balanced force on the die core; adjusting the bridge angle and male die neck position design to increase extrusion speed; improving the base-blocking design to enhance the quality of the decorative surface; optimizing the design of the sealing strip and working zone to reduce neck-in and tearing phenomena. After practical verification, this scheme passed the mold trial once and achieved stable production, effectively solving many previous issues.

04 Summary of Design Strategies for Porous Dies in "Low-Temperature High-Speed" Extrusion
Through in-depth analysis of the above four design cases, the following conclusions can be drawn:

  1. The layout of divergent holes and flow rate control are key to the design of porous dies. Reasonable hole layout and flow rate control can ensure that the aluminum flow passes through the mold uniformly and stably, thereby improving product quality and production efficiency.
  2. The strength and stability of the mold are the foundation for ensuring "low-temperature high-speed" production. During the design process, the stress and deformation of the mold should be fully considered to ensure that the mold remains stable during the extrusion process.
  3. Details determine success or failure. In mold design, every detail may have a significant impact on product quality and production costs. Therefore, designers should closely monitor every detail of the mold and continuously optimize the design scheme.

05 Conclusion
This article conducts an in-depth analysis of multiple cases of porous die design for aluminum profiles and summarizes strategies and methods for optimization design. Practice has proven that by improving design schemes, strengthening mold strength and stability, and paying attention to details, the production efficiency and qualification rate of porous dies can be significantly improved, and production costs can be reduced.