Computational Materials Science 38 (2006) 202216

www.elsevier.com/locate/commatsci

Numerical modelling of elasticviscoplastic equal channel

angular extrusion process of a polymer
F. Zari

a,*

, B. Aour a, J.M. Gloaguen b, M. Nat-Abdelaziz a, J.M. Lefebvre

Laboratoire de Mecanique de Lille (UMR CNRS 8107), Universite des Sciences et Technologies de Lille,
PolytechLille, Avenue P. Langevin, 59655 Villeneuve dAscq Cedex, France
Laboratoire de Structure et Proprietes de lEtat Solide (UMR CNRS 8008), Universite des Sciences et Technologies de Lille,
59655 Villeneuve dAscq Cedex, France
Received 9 December 2005; received in revised form 21 February 2006; accepted 21 February 2006

Abstract
The plastic response of a polymer during equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) at room temperature has been investigated by
numerical simulations. The objective of this paper is to provide some basic understanding of the plastic ow in the polymer during
one ECAE pass considering various process parameters such as extrusion velocity, friction conditions and die geometry. The distribution
of strains, strain rates and stresses, the deformation behaviour of the sample and the loaddisplacement curves were analysed for slow
and fast extrusion by taking into account material non-linearity of a typical semicrystalline polymer (HDPE).
 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Equal channel angular extrusion; Polymer processing; Viscoplastic deformation; Strain-rate sensitivity; Finite element analysis

1. Introduction
The equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) process
was rst developed by Segal et al. [1]. This innovative tool,
which can be suitable both for laboratory investigations
and industrial applications, has retained considerable
attention in recent years in the case of metals from both
experimental and modelling point of views. On the contrary, rather scarce literature is devoted to the applications
of ECAE to polymers.
It is well recognized that the ability of a polymer to
achieve high toughness and ductility is closely related to
its microstructure. In this respect, the ECAE process
appears as a promising technique for monitoring microstructure by introducing large plastic strains, resulting in
an increase in toughness and ductility of polymers [28].
By contrast to the continuous reduction of specimen
*

Corresponding author. Tel.: +33 3287 67460; fax: +33 3287 67301.
E-mail address: fahmi.zairi@polytech-lille.fr (F. Zari).

0927-0256/$ - see front matter  2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.commatsci.2006.02.008

dimensions with strain in conventional forming techniques,

no changes in the original cross-section of the specimen
occurs in the ECAE process. As shown by the schematic
diagram in Fig. 1, the method consists in extruding a sample
through a die constituted of two channels of equal crosssection. Owing to the absence of cross-sectional shape
changes, the process can be repeated and several multiple
pass schemes have been proposed in the literature [9].
In order to optimize process conditions, knowledge of
the strain distribution in a given material is of prime importance. Many theoretical studies have been addressed the
question of plastic strain distribution in the ECAE process,
involving geometric analysis [1,10,11], slip lines method
[1214] and upper bound theory [1517]. Finite element
simulations have pointed out that the distribution of strain
in the sample is not uniform [1824]. Furthermore, in the
case of polymers, the assumption of rigid-plastic response
in theoretical approaches is not realistic regarding the complex behaviour of this class of materials in terms of large
elastic strains, viscoplasticity, strain-hardening, . . .

F. Zari et al. / Computational Materials Science 38 (2006) 202216

203

Nomenclature
U
W
r
t
d
rij
eij
eeij
epij

channel angle
corner angle
inner corner radius
sample thickness
distance along sample thickness from the bottom
stress tensor
strain tensor
elastic strain tensor
inelastic strain tensor

die

ram

workpiece

r
top

bottom

die
Fig. 1. Scheme of the die geometry in the equal channel angular extrusion
(ECAE) process.

Finite element analysis seems to be the most appropriate

way to investigate the behaviour of polymers in the ECAE
process without neglecting realistic factors, such as processing conditions and material behaviour. However literature
data regarding nite element computations carried out to
simulate the ECAE process are quite contradictory and
confusing and do not allow to conclude on the inuence
of tool geometry and material behaviour on strain distribution in the extruded material. Therefore, intensive eorts
must be still spread out for a more complete understanding
of the deformation mechanisms involved during ECAE
process.
To date, the investigations on the ECAE process applied
to glassy polymers [3,5,7] or semicrystalline polymers
[2,4,6,8] have failed to analyze the eect of dierent processing conditions on the predicted material ow by computer simulations. Therefore no tool design guidelines are
presently available for ECAE of polymers.
In the following paper, nite element simulations of
ECAE were carried out for dierent geometrical conditions
to study the deformation behaviour, dead zones formation
and strain homogeneity achieved during cold extrusion of
a polymeric material. The plane strain extrusion was
analysed, taking into account strain hardening, strain-rate
sensitivity and friction eects. The paper is organized as
follows. Section 2 presents the constitutive equations used
to describe the behaviour of the studied polymer. Section

dij
Wij
epe
R
E
m
q
K, n
m, h
e0

Kronecker-delta symbol
spin tensor
equivalent plastic strain
isotropic internal variable
Youngs modulus
Poissons ratio
mass density
viscosity parameters
hardening parameters
initial yield strain

3 gives experimental results obtained for high density polyethylene (HDPE) tested under uniaxial compression for
dierent strain rates at room temperature. The experimental data allow to determine the strain hardening of the
material and to identify the model parameters used in the
nite element analysis. Section 4 rstly introduces the nite
element model. Then, numerical results obtained under
frictionless conditions regarding deformation behaviour,
distribution of plastic strain, strain rate and stress, and
applied external load are presented and discussed. The
combined eects of material behaviour, ram velocity, intersection and outer corner angles are considered. Next, the
inuence of friction is examined. Finally, Section 5 gives
a summary of the main features derived for the nal element approach with the aim of optimizing the application
of ECAE to polymeric materials.
2. Constitutive equations
Polymers are known to exhibit both time-dependent and
strongly non-linear mechanical behaviour. These characteristics of the behaviour during the plastic deformation
process must be taken into account in the constitutive
equations when dealing with ECAE problems. Some models have been developed in the literature to predict the
viscoplastic behaviour of some polymers [2532]. As a rst
step, we have chosen to introduce a quite general law to
describe the mechanical behaviour of the material rather
than using any of the previous models.
We assume that the material is homogeneous and isotropic with large strain elasticviscoplastic properties. The
model incorporates the initial linear response, the ratedependent yield stress and the non-linear behaviour.
The strain rate is decomposed into elastic and viscoplastic contributions as
e_ ij e_ eij e_ pij

The elastic strain rate is given by the elasticity theory and

written as
e_ eij

1m
m
~ij  r
~kk dij
r
E
E

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F. Zari et al. / Computational Materials Science 38 (2006) 202216

where E and m are the Youngs modulus and Poissons

ratio, respectively, dij is the Kronecker-delta symbol and
~ij is the Jaumann derivative of the Cauchy stress tensor
r
~ij r_ ij  W ik rkj rjk W ki , where Wij is the spin tensor.
rij: r
Assuming compliance to the normality rule, the viscoplastic part can be expressed as
3 of
2 ore re

50

40
30
20

where re is the equivalent von Mises stress and r0ij is the

deviatoric stress tensor, dened respectively as
r
3 0 0
r r and r0ij rij  dij rm
re
4
2 ij ij
rm being the mean stress.
In Eq. (3), f is a yield function depending on equivalent
stress:

n1
K
re  R
f
5
n1
K

10-1s-1
10-2s-1
10-3s-1
10-4s-1
10-5s-1

60

stress (MPa)

e_ pij

r0ij

70

experimental
theoretical

10
0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

strain
Fig. 2. Stressstrain curves for HDPE at dierent strain rates and at room
temperature.

Table 1
Material parameters

where K and n are material viscosity parameters. It can be

noticed that small values of K and large values of n lead to
rate-independent behaviours.
The non-linear plastic behaviour of the polymer is
described by the following isotropic hardening rule:

m
ep
Rh 1 e
6
e0

Parameter

Unit

Value

E
m
q
K
n
h
m

MPa

g/cm3
MPa

MPa

500
0.38
0.95
31.2
7.8
3.15
0.88

e0 being the initial threshold strain while m and h are material hardening parameters.
In Eq. (6), epe is the equivalent plastic strain:
r
Z t
2 p p
p
p
p
p
e_ e_
7
e_ e ds with e_ e k_eij k
ee
3 ij ij
0

the values of cross-head displacement, force and time were

recorded. Experimental stressstrain curves for compressed
HDPE material are shown in Fig. 2. The constitutive relations introduced in Section 2 were chosen to model the
non-linear behaviour at large strains.

One must notice that the model used in this paper in order
to simulate the polymer behaviour may be seen as a macroscopic description of inelastic response, since the dierent
phases composing the material are not explicitly taken into
account. Moreover, the anisotropy induced during the
deformation, due to microstructural evolution is not taken
into consideration in the present modelling. The model is
fully determined if parameters E, m, K, n, m and h are
available.
3. Experimental tests and tting
3.1. Experimental procedure and results
In the present work, simple compression tests were
conducted to derive the ow behaviour of a typical semicrystalline polymer. The studied material is a high density
polyethylene (HDPE) with a density of 0.95. The identication of the viscoplastic model parameters requires sucient
experimental data. Compressive tests were carried out
under ve strain rates using an electromechanical Instron
testing machine in range of 101105 s1. During tests,

3.2. Comparison between experimental data and

theoretical model
The parameters of the elasticviscoplastic model have
been determined from the set of isothermal monotonic uniaxial compression tests for dierent strain rates. The
Youngs modulus E was deduced from the slope of the initial linear portion of the compression stressstrain curve. It
was found to increase with strain rate from 400 MPa to
650 MPa. Since the model does not include the viscoelastic
eects, an average value of 500 MPa was adopted for the
numerical calculations. The identication of K, n, h and
m was achieved using a least squares regression tting.
The values of the identied parameters are shown in Table
1. As it can be seen in Fig. 2, a fairly good agreement is
obtained between the experimental data and elasticviscoplastic model.
4. Finite element simulations
According to Iwahashi et al. [10] and Goforth et al. [11]
who have built analytical expressions of the equivalent

F. Zari et al. / Computational Materials Science 38 (2006) 202216

4.1. Simulation model

Finite element analysis of the ECAE process was
performed under large strains formulation with the
Marc package. Inuence of key parameters such as initial
mechanical behaviour of the polymer, tool geometry and
process conditions (friction and ram speed) on the plastic
strain distribution induced in the extruded polymer has
been examined.
The two channels exhibit a square cross-section
(10 10 mm2) and their length is 110 mm each. A sample
with dimensions t w L = 10 10 100 mm3 was modelled under plane strain conditions. The model and the
meshing are shown in Fig. 3, the workpiece being in its initial position. The meshing includes four nodes plane strain
elements with reduced integration. The size of the ECAE
die is assumed to have no eect on the computation results
and the die is taken as a rigid body. The process simulation
uses a displacement control with constant velocity to
extrude the workpiece for a total ram displacement u of
100 mm. The heat generation due to phenomena such as
friction at the interface, velocity conditions or plastic
deformation was not considered. The friction will be only
considered in the last part of this section. The modelling
was performed for various extrusion velocities under

_
isothermal conditions. Five constant velocities u=L
were
applied, that are 101, 102, 103, 104 and 105 s1.
In order to study the sensitivity of the results to mesh
renement, nodes were chosen on a transverse line in the
middle of the workpiece. The equivalent plastic strain distribution along the workpiece thickness is plotted as a function of a reduced distance d/t (where d is the distance from
the bottom surface and t is the thickness of the workpiece)
from the bottom surface to the top surface for three meshes
(5 50, 10 100 and 20 200 elements) in Fig. 4. The difference between the three meshes is very weak when considering viscoplastic behaviour (VP). For a perfectly plastic
(PP) model, the dierence is higher especially in the outer
and the inner regions. For a ner meshing (above
25 250 elements), because of the distortion of the elements, the simulations for both behaviours did not converge. Finally, in order to avoid the errors due to a
coarse meshing, the sample has been divided into 4000
square elements. This number was found to be sucient
to represent the local behaviour of the workpiece and
was adopted in all remaining simulations.
The adequate selection of die angles is particularly
important with respect to process design for the polymer
material. Dierent die structures exhibiting an outer angle
W varying from 0 to Wmax = p  U are used in the simulation. The angle U is xed to 90 and 135. For U = 90, ve
outer angle W (0, 5, 10, 45 and 90) were considered,
while for U = 135 only two values of W (0 and 45) were
retained. An inner radius r at the intersection of the channels can be used in order to avoid both convergence problems and gap at the top surface of the workpiece that
would arise with a sharp inner die corner. The eect of
the inner radius r is pointed out in Fig. 5. The strain
increases from the outer surface up to the inner surface
and decreases if r increases. In order to achieve a compromise between the strain magnitude and the gap formation,

1.5
=90, =0 and r=3mm
1.2

equivalent plastic strain

plastic strain under frictionless conditions for a rigid perfectly plastic material, this quantity is expected to decrease
with the channel angle U and the die corner angle W. Even
if they can give an estimate of the strain induced in the
sample at the end of the extrusion, the elastic deformation
may be signicant in the case of polymers (for HDPE, the
initial yield strain is about 0.02, i.e. 10 times higher than
that of metallic alloys). Thus, when dealing with polymers,
elastic deformation is not negligible. Moreover, for a more
realistic investigation, the eects of non-linear inelastic
behaviour and strain rate must be taken into account. Furthermore, a characteristic feature of extrusion is the heterogeneity of the plastic strain eld, and the above mentioned
analytical models are not able to describe it. Therefore, the
nite element method appears as the best approach which
is able to take account of such complex conditions in order
to estimate non-uniform strain and stress distribution in
ECAE process.

205

PP
0.9

VP
0.6

250 elements
0.3

1000 elements
4000 elements

0
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

d/t

Fig. 3. Mesh of the workpiece.

Fig. 4. Eect of mesh size on the distribution of equivalent plastic strain

along the workpiece thickness for the perfectly plastic (PP) approximation
and the viscoplastic (VP) behaviour at a ram speed of 103 s1.

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F. Zari et al. / Computational Materials Science 38 (2006) 202216

1
=90 and =0

equivalent plastic strain

0.8

0.6

0.4

r=2mm
r=3mm
r=4mm
r=5mm

0.2

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

d/t
Fig. 5. Eect of inner radius r on the distribution of equivalent plastic
strain along the workpiece thickness for a ram speed of 103 s1.

an inner radius r of 3 mm was chosen in all remaining

simulations.
4.2. Results and discussion
In order to give an overall view of the material ow, the
eects of the process variables on strain distribution and
shape of the deformed sample at the end of a single pass
are examined. Plastic strain rate and stress distributions
as well as the load required for the extrusion are also
investigated.
4.2.1. Deformation behaviour of the sample
In order to point out the inuence of the material behaviour, the eect of tool angles on the deformation response
of an elastic perfectly plastic material has been studied in a
rst step. The elastic properties of this ideal behaviour are
those determined for HDPE and the constant yield stress is
an average value (r0 = 14 MPa) of those extracted from the
ow curves at dierent strain rates. The deformation
behaviour of the workpiece and the equivalent plastic
strain distribution for various values of W are given in
Fig. 6 for U = 90 and in Fig. 7 for U = 135 at an intermediate level during the ECAE test. When the workpiece
crosses the shear plane at the intersection corner of the
two channels, the localized shear band, which is the usual

mechanism of deformation in this polymer, starts to

develop and then propagates. Along the workpiece length,
there is a steady plastic ow region where the strain is
uniform. In this steady-state region, non-uniform strain
still exists along the thickness. This deformation can be
considered as an ideal state (simple shear) for the microstructure changes [33] and due to the high degree of plastic
deformation by shearing, signicant molecular orientation
may take place. Due to the geometrical constraints of the
die, the process avoids cross-sectional variations of the
workpiece, except for the front end. Classical features of
the ECAE can be observed such as dead zones both at
the corner between the die and the workpiece and at the
end of the workpiece. When the outer corner angle is
increased, a non-uniform deformation is involved at the
bottom side for 90 die, while the strain distribution seems
to be insensitive to the increase of W for U = 135.
The ECAE process simulation was then carried out at
room temperature for dierent ram speeds by taking into
consideration realistic behaviour of the material. The
deformation behaviour of the sample after reaching
steady-state is shown for two strain rates (105 s1 and
101 s1) in Fig. 8 for U = 90 and in Fig. 9 for U =
135. The ram velocity has almost no eect on the shape
of the end of the specimen, while the material behaviour
seems to have a more important inuence. When the ram
speed is increased, the workpiece ows faster into the die
channels, which leads to a lower level of plastic deformation. For U = 90, the length of the steady-state region
decreases at increasing ram speed, while for U = 135, a
smaller localized plastic strain appears in the bottom region
near the outer corner, with the decrease of the ram speed.
In this case, the length of the uniform part of the plastic
strain along the workpiece axis increases with ram speed.
The inuence of the material behaviour on outer corner
gap formation is clearly shown by comparing Figs. 68
for U = 90 and Figs. 79 for U = 135. The corner gap
increases with the strain hardening rate and it is very small
in the case of the perfectly plastic approximation. When
taking into account the strain hardening, for a given channel angle, the coordinates of the point where the workpiece
deviates from the straight wall of the rst channel and
those where it rejoins the wall of the second channel are
approximately the same whatever the ram speed and outer
corner angle conditions. For such a material behaviour,

Fig. 6. Equivalent plastic strain and deformation behaviour of the workpiece for the PP behaviour and U = 90, r = 3 mm (a) W = 90, (b) W = 0.

F. Zari et al. / Computational Materials Science 38 (2006) 202216

207

Fig. 7. Equivalent plastic strain and deformation behaviour of the workpiece for the PP behaviour and U = 135, r = 3 mm (a) W = 0, (b) W = 45.

Fig. 8. Equivalent plastic strain and deformation behaviour of the workpiece for U = 90, r = 3 mm, W = 0 and a ram speed of (a) 105 s1, (b) 101 s1.

Fig. 9. Equivalent plastic strain and deformation behaviour of the workpiece for U = 135, r = 3 mm, W = 0 and a ram speed of (a) 105 s1,
(b) 101 s1.

deformation is not conned to a small area, leading to uniform shear as expected in theory [33]. In this case, the plastic strain distribution is diuse and the specimen seems to
be bent rather than sheared at the crossing plane of the
two channels.

4.2.2. Equivalent plastic strain

The deformation history of material points in the
extruded workpiece during the ECAE process can be illustrated by plotting the strain as a function of displacement.
Fig. 10 presents the equivalent plastic strain versus the ram

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F. Zari et al. / Computational Materials Science 38 (2006) 202216

1.2

0.5

top

0.8

middle

0.6
0.4

bottom

equivalent plastic strain

equivalent plastic strain

0.00001/s
0.1/s

0.00001/s
0.1/s

0.2
0
0

20

40

60

80

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

100

top
bottom
middle

20

40

60

80

100

ram displacement (mm)

ram displacement (mm)

(a)

(b)

Fig. 10. Equivalent plastic strain on top, middle and bottom of the workpiece for two ram speeds and W = 0, r = 3 mm (a) U = 90, (b) U = 135.

displacement in bottom, middle and top points of the

thickness for U = 90 and 135. After a rapid increase in
plastic strain which occurs when passing through the crossing plane of the two channels, a steady-state deformation
process is involved corresponding to a strain saturation
in the last part of extrusion. Due to bending, a transient
phase with a constant value of strain can be seen for
regions near the bottom. Increasing the ram speed leads
to slightly smaller saturation value of the plastic strain.
For U = 90, the plastic strain decreases from the top
surface to the bottom surface. For U = 135, the surface
in contact with the die deforms more than the mesh at
the center.
Fig. 11 shows the variation of the equivalent plastic
strain predictions along the workpiece length at the end
of the extrusion process for two channel angles (U = 90
and 135) and one outer angle (W = 0). The values computed both in the top and bottom surfaces are plotted
and show that the plastic strain value induced in the material decreases with the ram velocity. Moreover, the strain

gradient between the top and bottom decreases with the

increase of the ram speed. Except for the boundary regions,
the workpiece is completely deformed in a uniform
manner.
The distribution of plastic strain across the workpiece
thickness has been also investigated by selecting a crosssection in the middle of the workpiece. The equivalent plastic strain predictions, after the steady-state is reached, are
plotted through the thickness (bottom to top) in Fig. 12
for dierent ram speeds. Is also shown the evolution corresponding to perfectly plastic material. In this gure d/t
denes a reduced length, d being the distance from the bottom of the workpiece and t the thickness. The strain distribution is clearly non-uniform when taking into account the
strain hardening whatever the velocity and the geometry of
the tool. Indeed, the strain level is smaller in the outer part
than in the lower part of the workpiece. When considering the perfectly plastic material, the strain predictions in
the middle region, although characterized by a uniform distribution, are clearly overestimated compared to those

1.2

0.5

10-5s-1

equivalent plastic strain

equivalent plastic strain

10-5s-1

0.8
-1 -1

10 s
10-5s-1

0.6
0.4
0.2

10-1s-1

top

0.4

10-5s-1
10-1s-1

0.3

0.2

10-1s-1
0.1

top
bottom

bottom
0

0
0

20

40

60

length (mm)
(a)

80

100

20

40

60

80

100

length (mm)
(b)

Fig. 11. Equivalent plastic strain along the workpiece length for W = 0, r = 3 mm (a) U = 90, (b) U = 135.

F. Zari et al. / Computational Materials Science 38 (2006) 202216

0.6

1.5

0.1/s
0.001/s
0.00001/s

0.5

1.2

equivalent plastic strain

equivalent plastic strain

209

0.1/s
0.01/s
0.001/s
0.0001/s
0.00001/s
PP

0.9

0.6

0.3

0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1

=90, =0 and r=3mm

0
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

0.01/s
0.0001/s
PP

=135, =0and r=3mm

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

d/t

d/t

(a)

(b)

0.8

Fig. 12. Eect of ram speed on the distribution of equivalent plastic strain along the workpiece thickness for W = 0, r = 3 mm (a) U = 90, (b) U = 135.

computed with strain hardening assumption. For a perfectly plastic material, the level of plastic strain decreases
when outer angle increases, while the strain is almost Windependent for the strain hardening (VP) material as
shown in Fig. 13.
Table 2 gives a summary of the maximum and average plastic strain across the thickness simulated with the
perfectly plastic approximation when the steady-state is
reached. A statistical analysis of the strain homogeneity
is also given by introducing the variation factor V, dened
as the ratio of the standard deviation to the average plastic
strain. It is an indicator of the strain heterogeneity since the
higher its value is, the more important is the heterogeneity.
The variation factor V can be expressed, within the steadystate region, as
v
u
N
1 u
1 X
2
V p t
8
ep  epave  100 %
eave N i1 i

where epi is the equivalent plastic strain value of a given

integration point along the workpiece thickness, epave is
the arithmetic average of the equivalent plastic strain values computed on N integration points.
For U = 90 the variation factor increases with the
increase of the outer corner angle, while for U = 135 it is
W-independent. The edge eect can be highlighted when
considering the average on 0.2 6 d/t 6 0.8 since in this
range V decreases. Table 3 shows the maximum and average plastic strain across the workpiece thickness for the real
behaviour (VP) and for three ram speeds. For U = 90 the
variation factor slightly decreases when the loading rate
decreases. Furthermore, the strain heterogeneity is weaker
when increasing the channel angle, the most heterogeneous
state corresponding to the smaller channel angle combined
with the rounded outer corner. For U = 90 and W = 0,
strain hardening leads to a higher value of V corresponding
to a more heterogeneous strain distribution than that of a
PP behaviour. However, for the higher outer corner the
0.6

1.5

=135 and r=3mm

0.5

1.2

equivalent plastic strain

equivalent plastic strain

=90 and r=3mm

PP
0.9

VP

0.6

=0
=10
=45
=90

0.3

0.3

VP
0.2

0
0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

=0
=45

0.1

0
0

PP

0.4

0.2

0.4

0.6

d/t

d/t

(a)

(b)

0.8

Fig. 13. Eect of outer corner angle on the distribution of equivalent plastic strain along the workpiece thickness for a ram speed of 103 s1 and
(a) U = 90, (b) U = 135.

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F. Zari et al. / Computational Materials Science 38 (2006) 202216

Table 2
Eect of die geometry on the maximum equivalent plastic strain, the average equivalent plastic strain and the statistical parameter V for the PP behaviour
U

Maximum
plastic strain

Average
plastic strain

V (%) 0 6 d/t 6 1

V (%) 0.2 6 d/t 6 0.8

90

0
90

1.413
0.933

1.143
0.696

16.97
40.37

0.413
32.04

135

0
45

0.393
0.393

0.325
0.325

25.51
25.51

13.82
13.82

Table 3
Eect of die geometry and ram speed on the maximum equivalent plastic strain, the average equivalent plastic strain and the statistical parameter V for the
VP behaviour
U

Ram speed
(s1)

Maximum
plastic strain

Average
plastic strain

V (%) 0 6 d/t 6 1

V (%) 0.2 6 d/t 6 0.8

90

101
103
105
101
103
105

0.907
0.973
0.968
0.903
0.962
0.973

0.523
0.594
0.597
0.513
0.575
0.588

31.39
28.20
27.32
31.87
29.35
28.54

24.23
20.53
19.61
24.77
21.75
20.63

101
103
105
101
103
105

0.305
0.373
0.392
0.305
0.373
0.391

0.211
0.262
0.265
0.211
0.262
0.265

19.69
17.60
19.69
19.69
17.60
19.66

17.14
13.65
13.42
17.14
13.64
13.45

90

135

45

4.2.3. Equivalent plastic strain rate

The strain heterogeneity at the end of the process can be
explained through the examination of the plastic strain rate
distribution. The evolution of the equivalent plastic strain
rate, computed in the middle of a transversal line across
the workpiece thickness is plotted in Fig. 14 for the VP
behaviour (for two ram speeds) and is compared with the
PP approximation. The results are only given for one die
structure (U = 90, W = 0). The evolution is characterized
by the presence of two signicant peaks. Next, the plastic
strain rate of the selected node decreases quickly to zero
level. The plastic strain rate decreases with the increase of
the outer corner angle but also with the channel angle.
The ram speed strongly aects the plastic strain rate

variation factor is smaller for the real behaviour. For

U = 135 and whatever W value, V decreases at increasing
strain hardening rate.
One can notice that the process with 135 die allows to
control more easily the microstructure evolution than with
the 90 die since the plastic strain develops more fastly via
90 die than 135 die. Moreover, the strain eld achieved in
the workpiece seems to be more uniform with the higher
channel angle. The ram speed inuences the magnitude
and the homogeneity of strain and can then have a significant eect in the nature of the microstructural changes and
deformation mechanisms. In order to achieve desired
microstructure in the polymer material, each one of these
characteristics must be judiciously chosen.

0.05

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0

20

40

60

80

ram displacement (mm)

(a)

100

equivalent plastic strain rate (s-1)

8.0E-05

equivalent plastic strain rate (s-1)

equivalent plastic strain rate (s-1)

0.8

6.0E-05

4.0E-05

2.0E-05

0.04

0.03

0.02

0.01

0.0E+00
0

20

40

60

80

100

ram displacement (mm)

20

40

60

80

ram displacement (mm)

(b)

(c)
1 1

Fig. 14. Evolution of equivalent plastic strain rate for U = 90, W = 0, r = 3 mm (a) 10

5 1

s , (b) 10

s , (c) PP.

100

F. Zari et al. / Computational Materials Science 38 (2006) 202216

magnitude. According to the results of this numerical analysis, the viscosity and the material behaviour generate different strain rate elds during ECAE process and inuence
the strain eld. Hence, it becomes obvious that taking into
consideration the rate sensitivity and strain hardening
characteristics in the constitutive equations of the material
is required when studying ECAE process of polymers.
The equivalent plastic strain rate around the die corner,
after steady-state deformation is reached, is given in
Fig. 15. The nite element results obtained for the VP
material can be compared with those corresponding to
PP approximation. Contrary to the perfectly plastic case,
the VP material shows the same trends in terms of plastic
strain rate distribution whatever the velocity and the geometry. For the perfectly plastic sample simulated with a
sharp outer corner (Fig. 15c), the plastic strain rate
decreases signicantly from the outer corner to the inner
corner. For the other cases, the regions that are close to
the outer radius of curvature of the die present smaller
strain rate values. The deviation is a consequence of the
bending eect due to the dead zone or to the geometric constraints through rounded outer corner. For the perfectly
plastic behaviour the plastic strain rate distribution is conned in a small zone around the intersection plane, while
for the VP behaviour the distribution of the plastic strain
rate is asymmetric with respect to the plane intersect. This
asymmetry results in corner gap, heterogeneous strain
distribution and similar strain proles.
4.2.4. Equivalent and hydrostatic stress
The equivalent von Mises stress across the workpiece
thickness is plotted in Fig. 16 for two geometrical features

211

of the die (U = 90, W = 0 and U = 135, W = 0). The

values are given for top, middle and bottom material
points. The magnitude of the equivalent stress decreases
with increasing channel angle. The stress at the selected
nodes reaches a saturation value and it is almost independent of viscosity eects. The surfaces in contact with the
die wall (top and bottom sides) present higher stress than
the middle part of the workpiece. For 135 die the stress
in the center of the workpiece is very low while the stress
at the top and the bottom surfaces are very close. For
90 die, the stress in the top surface is much higher than
in the middle and the bottom surfaces. One can expect that
high stress could be prejudicial to the durability of the die
and could cause damage to sample surface.
The previous discussion is based on the equivalent stress
evolution. The deformation state can be more easily
described by the investigation of the ow direction through
the distribution of the hydrostatic stress. Fig. 17 shows an
example of contour plots of the hydrostatic stress for subsequent total deformation increments. When the workpiece
penetrates in the exit channel (Fig. 17a), the hydrostatic
stress is negative (compressive state) around the end of
the outer arc of curvature and along the surface in contact
with the bottom of the die wall. Due to the concavity created by the outer corner gap, the hydrostatic stress is positive (tensile state) around the starting point and along the
outer arc of curvature. While at the inner corner, the
hydrostatic stress is negative due to the convexity imposed
by the inner rounded corner. The front edge of the workpiece exhibits a positive deformation state (tension). When
the extrusion goes on (Fig. 17b) similar characteristics of
the hydrostatic stress distribution is observed near the

Fig. 15. Distribution of equivalent plastic strain rate for U = 90, W = 0, r = 3 mm (a) 101 s1, (b) 105 s1, (c) PP and U = 90, W = 90, r = 3 mm
(d) 101 s1, (e) 105 s1, (f) PP.

212

F. Zari et al. / Computational Materials Science 38 (2006) 202216

120

120

top
middle
bottom

top
middle
bottom

100

equivalent stress (MPa)

equivalent stress (MPa)

100
80
60
40
20

80
60
40
20

0
0

20

40

60

80

100

0
0

20

40

60

80

ram displacement (mm)

ram displacement (mm)

(a)

(b)

100

Fig. 16. Evolution of equivalent stress for 101 s1 and W = 0, r = 3 mm (a) U = 90, (b) U = 135.

Fig. 17. Distribution of hydrostatic stress for U = 90, W = 0, r = 3 mm and a ram speed of 103 s1.

channel intersection and at the front end of the workpiece.

In the central portion, when the steady-state is achieved
(Fig. 17c), the hydrostatic stress state is mainly compressive
in the bottom surface while tension dominates around the
region of the top surface.
4.2.5. Evolution of the applied load
Theoretical analyses of the load required to achieve the
extrusion process are discussed in [12,16]. However, nite
element methods account more realistically for the material
behaviour and processing conditions than analytical
approaches. In this section, the eect of the channel angle
U, the outer angle W, the ram speed and the stressstrain
behaviour on the expected load is now examined. Then,
the inuence of the deformation behaviour of the workpiece on the evolution of the required load is discussed.
The nite element results of the load evolution as a function of ram displacement are shown in Fig. 18 for the two
behaviours (i.e. PP and VP). The load magnitude is controlled by the material response, the ram speed, the angles
U and W. These parameters also control its evolution with
ram displacement. In the case of the VP behaviour
(Fig. 18a and b), the load increases fastly with time before
reaching a maximum. Then, the load decreases down to a
minimum and followed again by an increase, except for
U = 90, W = 0. After that, the load remains constant.
This phase corresponds to the moment when the plastic
strain reaches its saturation value (steady-state). The peak
region (corresponding to the beginning of the process) is

strongly inuenced by the angle W while the load associated to the steady-state is less sensitive to this parameter.
Furthermore, the required load increases with the increase
of the extrusion velocity. Under the perfectly plastic
assumption the above mentioned phases pointed out when
analysing the response in terms of loaddisplacement
curves are less pronounced (Fig. 18c and d). This is probably linked to the great dierence in shape and strain rate
distribution for the two materials.
The evolution of the deformation behaviour of the workpiece and the values of the equivalent plastic strain are
shown in Figs. 1921. The evolution of the deformation
behaviour of the workpiece can be correlated with the load
variation (Fig. 18). When the workpiece starts to be in contact with the bottom wall of the die (see (a) in Figs. 1921),
local plastic strain begins at the outer corner and forms a
shear band across the two corners which can be related to
the peak of the load. Then, the load decreases and reaches
a minimum which corresponds to the contact of the bottom
and top surfaces of the workpiece with the exit channel (see
(b) in Figs. 1921). At the end of this phase, the corner gap
starts to be a continuous phenomenon. When the load
reaches its saturation value, the deformation band
uniformly propagates in the workpiece (see (c) in Figs.
1921) which moves as a rigid body inside the channel.
4.2.6. Eect of friction
For an accurate analysis of ECAE process for VP materials, factors such as friction must be examined. Friction

F. Zari et al. / Computational Materials Science 38 (2006) 202216

7

213

0.12

=45

=90

=0
5

=0

0.1
Fig. 21a

Fig. 19a

10-1s-1

Fig. 19b

load (kN)

load (kN)

0.08
4

-1 -1

Fig. 19c-20c

10 s

0.06
10-5s-1

0.04

2
10-5s-1

1
Fig. 20a

0.02

Fig. 20b

20

40

60

Fig. 21c

80

100

Fig. 21b

ram displacement (mm)

(a)

20

40

60

80

100

ram displacement (mm)

(b)
0.06

0.05
1.5

load (kN)

load (kN)

0.04
1

=90
=45
=10
=0

0.5

20

40

60

ram displacement (mm)

(c)

80

=0

0.02
0.01

0
0

=45

0.03

100

0
0

20

40

60

80

100

ram displacement (mm)

(d)

Fig. 18. Eect of W, ram speed and material behaviour on loadram displacement curves: for the VP behaviour (a) U = 90, (b) U = 135 and for the PP
behaviour (c) U = 90, (d) U = 135.

Fig. 19. Equivalent plastic strain and deformation behaviour of the workpiece for U = 90, W = 0, r = 3 mm and a ram speed of 105 s1 at dierent ram
displacements: (a) 20 mm, (b) 28 mm, (c) 52 mm.

Fig. 20. Equivalent plastic strain and deformation behaviour of the workpiece for U = 90, W = 90, r = 3 mm and a ram speed of 105 s1 at dierent
ram displacements: (a) 14 mm, (b) 18 mm, (c) 52 mm.

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F. Zari et al. / Computational Materials Science 38 (2006) 202216

Fig. 21. Equivalent plastic strain and deformation behaviour of the workpiece for U = 135, W = 0, r = 3 mm and a ram speed of 105 s1 at dierent
ram displacements: (a) 8 mm, (b) 16 mm, (c) 40 mm.

0.4

1.2

equivalent plastic strain

equivalent plastic strain

1
0.8
0.6
0.4

=0
=0.2
=0.4

0.2

=0.1
=0.3
=0.5

0.3

0.2

0.1

=0
=0.5

0
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

0.2

0.4

d/t

0.6

0.8

d/t
(b)

(a)

Fig. 22. Eect of friction on the distribution of equivalent plastic strain along the workpiece thickness for W = 0, r = 3 mm (a) U = 90, (b) U = 135.

between the surface of the material and the die wall is

investigated in this section. It is assumed to be uniform
everywhere and follow a Coulombs law. The eects of
the friction coecient on the resulting plastic strain distribution in the steady-state region are shown in Fig. 22. The
strain near the bottom region decreases when the friction

coecient increases while for the remaining thickness the

strain increases.

12

=0
=0.5

10

Maximum
plastic strain

Average
plastic strain

V (%)

90

0.973
1.148
0.962
1.05

0.594
0.832
0.575
0.615

28.20
28.19
29.35
33.45

0
0.5
0
0.5

0.373
0.378
0.373
0.378

0.262
0.268
0.262
0.268

17.60
17.05
17.60
17.08

0
0.5
0
0.5

90
135

0
45

=0
8

load (kN)

Table 4
Eect of friction on the maximum equivalent plastic strain, the average
equivalent plastic strain and the statistical parameter V for the VP
behaviour at a ram speed of 103 s1

6
=90

=0
4
2
=90
0
0

20

40

60

80

100

ram displacement (mm)

Fig. 23. Eect of friction and W on loadram displacement curves for
U = 90, r = 3 mm and at a ram speed of 103 s1.

F. Zari et al. / Computational Materials Science 38 (2006) 202216

215

Fig. 24. Eect of friction on equivalent plastic strain and deformation behaviour of the workpiece at a ram speed of 103 s1 for U = 90, W = 0,
r = 3 mm (a) l = 0 (b) l = 0.5 and for U = 90, W = 90, r = 3 mm (c) l = 0 (d) l = 0.5.

Table 4 gives a summary of the friction eect on the

maximum and average plastic strain across the workpiece
thickness and the variation factor for simulations
performed under the VP assumption for a velocity of
103 s1. Friction coecient has a very small eect on variation factor and then on the degree of heterogeneity whatever the rate of lling (i.e. existence of unlled region or
not). However, as pointed out in Fig. 23, the load required
to achieve the extrusion process is really sensitive to this
parameter. Before reaching the steady-state, the peak load
is higher when taking friction into account. The dierence
in terms of peak load is magnied when decreasing the
outer corner angle. Even the load corresponding to the
steady-state is sensitive to the friction parameter. Indeed,
the higher is the friction coecient, the higher is the load.
This can be explained by the fact that friction favours and
improves the degree of lling as it can be seen in Fig. 24.
Since the contact areas increase, the required load to
extrude the material is enhanced.
The equivalent plastic strain distribution and deformation behaviour of the workpiece are given in Fig. 24 in
order to visualize the inuence of the friction coecient
(l = 0 and 0.5). For a sharp outer corner, W = 0,
(Fig. 24a and b) friction leads mainly to higher plastic
strain across the workpiece thickness and helps to reduce
the dead zone. A highly localized plastic strain in the bottom region near the outer corner of the die is observed. In
this case, the steady-state region is then reduced compared
to the frictionless simulation. The corner gap becomes very
small for W = 90 (Fig. 24c and d) under frictionless conditions and seems to disappear completely for l = 0.5. In this
case, friction aects the local plastic strain only in a small
area at the top surface.
5. Conclusion
The numerical analysis of inelastic extrusion in ECAE
process of a polymer was presented considering various
process parameters. The strain homogeneity was studied
for dierent tool angles by considering the inuence of realistic material parameters of a HDPE. The results indicate

the importance of taking into consideration the rate sensitivity since the mechanical variables (strain, stress and load
required) are rate dependent. Furthermore, it was found
that the strain distribution strongly depends on the material behaviour. The formation of a corner gap, which leads
to bending rather than shearing mechanism in the workpiece, is due to a coupled eect of the material behaviour,
geometrical constraints and friction conditions.
The polymer studied in this work was a high density
polyethylene, the microstructure of which consists in crystalline lamellae interleaved with a soft amorphous phase.
The plastic deformation of semicrystalline polymers has
been intensively studied from the viewpoint of changes in
morphology [34]. It is now evident that very drastic reorganization occurs at the morphological level, with the structure changing from a spherolitic to a brillar type as the
degree of plastic deformation increases. The ECAE is
expected to induce signicant structural changes in high
density polyethylene taking into account the large plastic
strain undergone by the workpiece. Morphological investigations at all pertinent scales will be considered in a near
future. Because plastic strain uniformity is a key factor,
the selection of judicious processing conditions and
geometrical features of the die is particularly important
to control the deformation level and the microstructure
evolution.
Further it is now essential to combine the modelling
analysis of the deformation behaviour of samples during
ECAE with experimental approaches. Finite element simulations results of this work provide fruitful information for
optimising the tool under development.
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