Material flow and texture in friction extruded wire

Friction extrusion is a solid state process that can produce high quality, fully consolidated wire from metal chips, powder or billet. In order to broaden the understanding of consolidation and material flow during this process flow visualization experiments were conducted during friction extrusion of AA6061 wire with AA2195 as a marker insert. Variations in material flow with changes in die geometry, rotation rate and extrusion force and location of marker insert are presented and discussed with reference to metallographic cross-sections of resulting wire and remaining billet. The shape of marker material in the wire and hence material flow and consolidation during extrusion is highly dependent on die rotation rate and extrusion force. Grain size and crystallographic texture development and their variation during wire extrusion of AA6061 and AA2195 are also elucidated.