Composite Extrusion – Determination of the Influencing Factors on the Positioning of the Reinforcing Elements

In order to manufacture a workpiece fulfilling specified requirements with the lowest possible weight, it is crucial to be able to work with a variety of materials and to combine them accordingly. The production of profiles based on hybrid materials demonstrates such an approach. The continuous and selective reinforcement of aluminum profiles with metallic elements like steel wire and steel wire ropes by composite extrusion is being investigated within the scope of research of the Transregional Collaborative Research Center (SFB/TR10). A stable production process for composite profiles with embedded continuous reinforcing elements was developed during the research work. In this paper, the process principle is shown and an overview of the special tools is given. Furthermore, the temperature and the strand speed as influencing factors on the final state of the composite are analyzed, based on real size experiments using a 2.5MN and a 10 MN extrusion press.