Off-axis twist extrusion for uniform processing of round bars

The present paper introduces a twist extrusion (TE) process capable of processing of round bars with uniform deformation and reports physical, analytical, and numerical modeling of the process. It is shown that the ability to treat round bars can be achieved by design of special off-axis TE dies in which the axis of the twist surface is displaced from the central axis of the bar being processed. Physical modeling conducted in the current study with plasticine demonstrates the feasibility of off-axis TE. A marker insert technique employed in the physical model reveals that tool-controlled flow (ideal helical flow) of the material is dominant in the process. Analytical model developed in the present study explains why using off-axis TE dies leads to uniform deformation and how this deformation uniformity depends on the die geometry. The main conclusions made upon analytical modeling are confirmed with complement finite element simulations. The simulations also show that the main deformation mode in off-axis TE is simple shear at the intersection planes between the twist and the straight channels of the die.