Materials Science and Engineering A315 (2001) 122– 128

www.elsevier.com/locate/msea

Finite element analysis of equal channel angular pressing using a

round corner die
Hyoung Seop Kim *
Department of Metallurgical Engineering, Chungnam National Uni6ersity, Taejon 305 -764, South Korea

Received 31 May 2000; received in revised form 19 January 2001

Abstract

The properties of the materials are strongly dependent on the shear plastic deformation behavior during equal channel angular
pressing (ECAP), which is controlled mainly by die geometry, material properties, and process conditions. In this study, the plastic
deformation behaviour of the materials during the ECAP process with a round die corner angle (90°) and a frictionless condition
was investigated using the commercial two-dimensional rigid-plastic finite element code (DEFORM2D). The ECAP process for
these conditions was explained using the five steps based on the calculated load curve (fast increase, slow increase, fast increase,
steady and finally decreasing stages). The inhomogeneous strain distribution within the workpiece was analyzed by subdividing the
workpiece into a front transient zone, an end transient zone, an outer less sheared zone, and the remaining shear deforming zone.
Due to the faster flow of the outer part compared with the inner part within the main deforming zone, the lesser shear zone in
the outer part of the workpiece occurs. If the lesser deformation zone is ignored, the effective strain by the theoretical equation
is in good agreement with the FEM results. © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Equal channel angular pressing; Finite element method; Inhomogeneous deformation; Lesser sheared zone

1. Introduction nanostructured materials manufactured by other meth-

Ultrafine grained materials [1] have been synthesized
by various methods, such as gas condensation method
ball milling, in which bulk specimens are fabricated
from powders having ultrafine microstructures by com-
paction and sintering. However, bulk parts maintaining
the ultrafine microstructure are hard to obtain because
of residual porosity or grain growth during the bulk
forming process. Various processing routes have been
proposed to accomplish manufacture of ultrafine
grained parts with no residual porosity.
In recent years, severe plastic deformation (SPD) was
developed by Russian scientists as a new method of
manufacturing bulk specimens having ultrafine grain
structure [2]. The SPD process has been the subject of
intensive investigations in recent years due to the
unique physical and mechanical properties inherent in
various ultrafine grained materials. Also, SPD-pro-
duced materials have a number of advantages over
* Fax: + 82-42-8229401.
E-mail address: hskim@cnu.ac.kr (H.S. Kim).
ods through powder processing. Among various SPD
methods, such as multiple forging, torsion straining,
equal channel angular pressing (ECAP), the ECAP
process is a promising method that involves large shear
plastic deformation in a deforming layer of a workpiece
by moving through a die containing two intersecting
channels of identical cross-sections that meet at a pre-
determined angle. This process, invented by Segal et al.
in the beginning of the 1980s [3], has been the subject of
intensive study in recent years due to its capability of
producing large full dense samples containing an ul-
trafine (or nanometer scale) grain size by repeating the
process while maintaining the original cross-section of
the workpiece. Significant progress has been made not
only in the understanding of fundamental properties of
the equal channel angular pressed materials but also in
the analyzing the process itself. The reader is referred to
a recent review [2] for a state-of-the-art summary on
this aspect.
Fig. 1 shows the principle of ECAP, where two
channels of equal cross-section intersect at an oblique
angle b. With reference to the workpiece, three perpen-

0921-5093/01/$ - see front matter © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 9 2 1 - 5 0 9 3 ( 0 1 ) 0 1 1 8 8 - 1
 H.S. Kim / Materials Science and Engineering A315 (2001) 122–128
dicular directions denoted as pressing direction, width
direction and thickness direction, respectively, are in-
troduced. In order to account for the difference in the
local deformation in the workpiece, the workpiece parts
that flow near the inside corner (point A) and the
outside corner (curve BC) of the die will be referred to
as the inside part and the outside part, respectively. The
die corner angle c is defined as the angle subtended by
the arc curvature and lies between c = 0 and c = y−
b. Analysis [4] has shown that the equivalent strain m
generated in the workpiece after one pass is given by
the following relation:
m=
1  
2 cot
c b
+
+c cosec
c b
+
 n (1)
3 2 2 2 2
According to Eq. (1), the effective strain during
ECAP can decrease from the maximum of 1.15 to the
minimum of 0.907 with changing the corner angle from
c= 0 to 90°, when the channel angle is fixed as b=
90°. However, Eq. (1) represents just the average effec-
tive strain developed in the workpiece during the ECAP
process. In other words, Eq. (1) does not show the local
transient deformation behaviour in the starting and the
ending parts of the workpiece. Neither does it account
for inhomogeneous strain distribution across the width
direction of the workpiece, usually observed in
experiments.
Since the mechanical properties of the deformed ma-
terial are directly related to the amount of plastic
deformation, i.e. the strain developed, the understand-
ing of the phenomenon associated with the strain devel-
opment is very important for a sound ECAP die design.
To obtain the ultrafine grained materials with a good
quality by exposing coarse grained materials to severe
plastic deformation, it is essential to combine experi-
mental research with a theoretical analysis of inhomo-
geneous deformation behaviour in the workpiece
Fig. 1. Schematic illustration of the ECAP process showing the die
channel angle geometry. Pressing direction, width direction and thick-
ness direction denote three perpendicular directions with reference to
the workpiece.
123
during the process. The plastic deformation behaviour
of workpiece during the ECAP process is controlled, in
addition to pressing temperature and ram speed, by
both the die design parameters, e.g. die shape, die
length, channel intersection angle, die corner angle, the
friction condition, etc. and parameters related to mate-
rial properties, hardening exponent, strain rate sensitiv-
ity, etc. The finite element method (FEM) has been
widely used in plastic forming process in order to
analyze the global and local deformation response of
the workpiece with nonlinear conditions of boundary,
loading and material properties, to compare the effects
of various parameters, and to search for optimum
process conditions for a given material. Although FEM
has been applied to ECAP [5–8] several times, the
investigation on the inhomogeneous deformation of the
workpiece, especially in transient regions using a round
corner die, is not sufficient.
In the current study, plastic deformation behaviour
of metals during the ECAP process using the high
corner angle die is analyzed using FEM in order to
investigate the local deformation behaviour of the
workpiece.
2. Finite element analysis
In a rectangular workpiece with the width of W and
length of L, the thickness direction is perpendicular to
the width and length directions, so that the strain along
the thickness direction is zero, i.e. plane strain condi-
tion prevails. That is, the deformation during the
ECAP process of rectangular specimens becomes two-
dimensional. Therefore, isothermal two-dimensional
plane-strain FEM simulations of the ECAP process
have been carried out using the commercial rigid-plastic
finite element code, DEFORM2D [9]. According to the
experimental [10] and the theoretical analyses [11], the
isothermal condition can be fulfilled at low pressing
speed. In the simulations, the simple model die has the
geometry of 15 (width)×1 (thickness)× 120 (length)
mm3, b=90° and c = 90°. Although the deformation
behaviour during ECAP varies with the corner angle c
and the channel angle b, one set of b=90° and
c =90° was taken as a prototype of high corner angle.
Fig. 2 shows the initial finite element mesh system for
the plastic deformation analysis of ECAP. The number
of initial mesh (four node isoparametric plane strain
element) is 1582. This number of elements was found to
be sufficient to show local deformation of the work-
piece by calculating with varying number of elements.
The workpiece material used in the calculations was
1100Al, which exhibits strain rate sensitivity of flow
stress and strain hardening behaviour [12].
A constant ram speed of 1 mm s − 1 was imposed. All
simulations used automatic remeshing to accommodate
124 H.S. Kim / Materials Science and Engineering A315 (2001) 122–128
Fig. 2. Finite element mesh system for the plastic deformation
analysis of the ECAP process.
Fig. 3. Calculated pressing load versus ram displacement during the
ECAP process.
large strains and the occurrence of flow localization
during the simulation. The coefficient of friction be-
tween the die channel inside and the specimen was
assumed to be zero, implying frictionless condition. The
time of a calculation was less than 5 h on an alpha
workstation.
3. Results of calculations
Finite element analysis was carried out for the ECAP
process of 1100Al. Fig. 3 is the calculated load versus
ram displacement curve. The oscillation of the load
curve is due to the discontinuity of the surface nodes of
the workpiece mesh, which contact the die corner. This
oscillation of the load is unavoidable in the Lagrangian
type finite element analysis with sharp corner contact
between two parts. A real load can be obtained by
averaging through the oscillating one. It should be
noted from Fig. 3 that five stages of the ECAP load can
be distinguished in this particular case. This trend can
be explained by using the deformed geometry (flow net)
of Fig. 4.
Stage I is the step where the front part of the
workpiece goes through the main deformation zone in
which most of the deformation occurs (the shaded
region ABC in Fig. 1), see Fig. 4a and b. During Stage
I, the volume of the deformation part of the workpiece
increases, as does the internal stress within the work-
piece, and the load increases, as well as the initially
undeformed workpiece goes through the main deforma-
tion zone. Stage II is the step where the front part of
the workpiece exits the main deformation zone and
bends to the upper side in the exit channel, see Fig. 4b
and c. Since the front part of the workpiece which
passed the main deformation zone has no severe con-
straint for deformation until it touches the upper side
of the exit channel die during bending, the load in-
creases slowly. This stage of slowly increased or con-
stant load during the ECAP has been observed in the
ECAP process of brass [13]. The bent front part of the
workpiece does not entirely fill the exit channel and a
narrow gap between the workpiece and corner region of
the exit channel die is generated. Stage III is from the
point where the front part of the workpiece begins to
touch the upper side of the exit channel die, see Fig. 4c
and d. The load increases fast because of the constraint
of the contact between the workpiece and the exit die.
During Stage III, the gap between the workpiece and
the exit channel die grows, far from being filled. Stage
IV commences when the sufficient is established be-
tween the workpiece and the exit channel die, where the
load does not increase any more and a plateau-like
behaviour of the load is well recognizable in Fig. 4d
and e. During Stage IV, the load rather decreases,
which is believed to be due to a decrease of the volume
of the deforming workpiece within the entry channel
die. It should be noted that the gap between the bottom
side of the workpiece and the exit channel die is found.
This bottom gap is attributed to the bending deforma-
tion of the workpiece exiting the main deformation
zone. The final Stage V is from when the end part of
the workpiece goes out of the main deformation zone
and the load drops precipitously. The points with the
numbers denote the initial corner points of the work-
piece (points 1, 2, 3, 4) and the steady region of the
deformed workpiece (points 5, 6, 7, 8). The significance
of these points will be discussed later.
It can be found from the final geometry of the
workpiece (Fig. 4f) that the deformation histories are
different for the front part and the end part of the
workpiece and the inner and the outer parts in the
steady state region of the workpiece. This difference in
the deformation behaviour with the position of the
 H.S. Kim / Materials Science and Engineering A315 (2001) 122–128 125

Fig. 4. Deformed geometry changes for the ECAP process with zero friction.

workpiece is attributed to the asymmetry of the stress outer part appears to be much less sheared. This less
state. In order to investigate the stress state of the sheared region has been reported in the experiments on
workpiece during the ECAP process, the mean stress metals [14,15] and plasticine [16]. Ko et al. [16] at-
distribution at steady state of the load (Stage IV) is tributed the less sheared zone to the friction effect
shown in Fig. 5. It can be seen from the mean stress between the workpiece and the die. However, the fric-
distribution that the stress in the inner side of the exit tion will intensify the shear deformation of the surface
channel is different from that in the outer side, not just elements since the friction operates in the reverse direc-
in its value, but even in the sign. The inner part of the tion to that of the motion of the moving surface. Thus,
entry side receives compressive stress due to the com- if the friction operates, the area of the less sheared zone
pression of the ram, and the maximum compressive will be decreased. Moreover, the coefficient of friction
stress (contour line A) appears in the inside corner in the present finite element analysis was zero. There-
point. The main deformation zone (area ABC) is in the fore, it is clear that the less sheared zone attributed to
compressive stress state. On the other hand, the outer the flow path of the workpiece controlled by the die
part of the entry side of the workpiece is in tensile stress corner geometry rather than the friction effect. The
state (contour line F) since the outer part is elongated velocity distribution at the steady stage (Stage IV) is
in the pressing direction ahead of and in the front part shown in Fig. 6 in order to investigate the formation of
of the main deformation zone. However, since the the less sheared zone. The outer part of the workpiece
elongated elements are compressed again from around
the center of the main deformation zone, they acquire a
compressive stress state. After exiting the main defor-
mation zone, the compressed elements of the inner part
are in tensile stress state, while the tensioned elements
of the outer part turn to the compressive stress state
because the elements between the inner part and the
outer part have to maintain continuity. Of course, the
stress states and the deformation behaviour of the front
part and the rear part are different due to the difference
in the deformation history.
Apart from the difference in the stress history of each
part during the ECAP process (i.e. compressive-tensile
in the inner part and compressive-tensile-compressive in
the outer part), it can be particularly observed from the
final deformed geometry of the workpiece (Fig. 4f) that
the center part and the inner part (about 1/4 of the
width) of the workpiece are heavily sheared whereas the Fig. 5. Distribution of mean stress during the ECAP process.
126 H.S. Kim / Materials Science and Engineering A315 (2001) 122–128
Fig. 6. Distribution of flow velocity during the ECAP process.
Fig. 7. Distribution of effective strain in the workpiece after the
ECAP process.
within the main deformation zone (area ABC, Fig. 1)
moves faster because of the generated tensile stress in
that region; it travels longer, and goes further than the
inner part. Although the outer part goes further in the
main deformation zone because of the faster velocity
than the inner part, the inner part leaves the main
deformation zone earlier than the outer part because
the inner region of the main deformation zone is
shorter that the outer region. The material outside of
the main deformation zone flows with the same hori-
zontal velocity regardless of the position. In other
words, the overall shear deformation in the workpiece
is generated due to the fact that the inner part leaves
the main deformation zone earlier than the outer part.
The lesser shear zone in the outer part is attributed to
the faster velocity in the outer part than in the inner
part within the main deformation zone.
We consider here the method that can produce equal
shear strain along the width direction of the workpiece
to avoid the less sheared zone. To retard the outer part
of the workpiece, the flow distance of the outer part
should be longer or the main deformation zone, where
the flow velocity of the outer part is faster than that of
the inner part, should be short. Decreasing the outer
corner angle c achieves both the longer flow distance
of the outer part and the shorter main deformation
zone area. When the outer corner angle c is a mini-
mum, c = 0, in fact, the less sheared zone is not
observed [17].
In order to illustrate the difference in the deforma-
tion behaviour between the inner and the outer parts,
the initial corner points (points 1, 2, 3, and 4) of the
workpiece are indicated in the initial and the deformed
shapes of Fig. 4. The initial top, bottom, left (outer)
and right (inner) surfaces of the workpiece are the
surfaces 1–2, 3–4, 1–3, and 2–4, respectively. The
initial top surface (surface 1–2) became the upper
surface after deformation as the initial right (inner)
surface (surface 1–3). Although the surface 1–2 became
the same as the surface 1–3 after the process, the point
2 is susceptible to cracking or folding during the next
forming step due to the discontinuity of the surface
flow or the difference in height between the surface 1– 2
and the surface 1–3. Comparing the length between the
surfaces 1–3 and 2–4, it can be seen that the inner part
(surface 2–4) and the outer part (surface 1–3) are
subjected to compressive stress and tensile stress,
respectively.
From the deformed geometry, it can be found that
the front and the end parts of the workpiece are
apparently different from the central steady state part.
This end effect cannot be avoided during the ECAP
process. The theoretical analyses [4] for the deformation
behaviour of the workpiece during the ECAP process
are not directly applicable to these end parts since the
theoretical results are derived for the steady state re-
gion. Segal [18] and Cui et al. [19] have presented the
analyses of plastic flow and predicted the end zones
using the geometrical approach and the slip line field
method, respectively. If the length of the workpiece is
too short, the front part and the end part meet together
and the possibility of crack formation, due to the highly
inhomogeneous deformation, increases. Thus, the
length, compared with the width, of the workpiece
should be long enough to generate a steady state re-
gion, in which the theoretical analyses can be applied.
Fig. 7 shows the effective strain distribution in the
workpiece after the process, from which the steady state
region can be distinguished. The front and the end
parts with the inhomogeneous strain distributions and
the central steady state region with the strain distribu-
tion parallel to the length direction are shown.
 H.S. Kim / Materials Science and Engineering A315 (2001) 122–128
The effective strain distributions along the path of
the workpiece normal to the pressing direction in the
steady state region (i.e. width direction) are shown in
Fig. 8. The bottom region (i.e. the outer part) of the
workpiece shows lower strain due to the shorter flow
distance than the inner part, as described above. The
horizontal dashed line at the effective strain of 0.907 in
Fig. 8 corresponds to the theoretical strain obtained
using Eq. (1) when b =90° and c =90°. The average
effective strain, ma, can be calculated from the FEM
results by averaging the strain distribution over the
volume V of the element, which is identical to the line
average for the plane strain condition, see Eq. (2).
% m i Vi % mi li
ma = = (2)
% Vi % li
Here V and l denote volume and length of the element,
respectively, and the subscript i refers to the i-th ele-
ment of the workpiece. The calculated average effective
strain following from the FEM results using Eq. (2) are
ma =0.82, which is lower than the theoretical effective
strain value, ma =0.907, calculated using Eq. (1). The
fact that a lower value is obtained by the FEM than by
using Eq. (1) is attributed to the formation of the lesser
deformation zone in the outer part. If the lesser defor-
mation zone is ignored, the average effective strain by
the FEM is 0.906, which is in good agreement with the
value (ma = 0.907) obtained using Eq. (1). Therefore, Eq.
(1) is adequate for use to obtain the average effective
strain in the steady state region excluding the lesser
deformation zone.
It is also very important to know the lengths of the
transient deformation (i.e. front and end) zone and the
steady state zone for the manufacture of the engineer-
ing parts using the ECAP process. For considered die
and workpiece, the front part (region 1– 2 – 5–6), the
Fig. 8. The effective strain distributions along the path of the
workpiece normal to the pressing direction in the steady state region
(i.e. width direction).
127
end part (region 3–4–7–8) and the steady state part
(region 5–8–7–6) are shown in Fig. 4f. It should be
remembered that the size of each zone is controlled by
the width of the workpiece, die geometry, and friction
condition. The points indicating each region after the
process were traced back to the initial geometry of the
workpiece and are shown in Fig. 4a, because the
lengths of these three zones before the pressing is more
important than those after the process, in the process
design aspect. The measured lengths of the initial front
part and the initial end part are 2.7 and 1.3 times the
width of the workpiece, respectively. Therefore, the
length of the workpiece should be at least four times its
width in order to get the steady state zone by one pass
of the ECAP process under the current conditions.
However, it should be stressed that the deformation
behaviour including this minimum length of the work-
piece for the formation of the central steady state zone
is not universal but depends on the material properties,
die geometry, friction condition, pressing speed, tem-
perature etc., which will be presented later.
4. Conclusions
Finite element analysis using the rigid-plastic DE-
FORM2D code was carried out in order to investigate
the plastic deformation behaviour of the workpiece
during the frictionless ECAP process with the round die
corner angle of c =90°. The main conclusions in that
case are as follows. (1) The load-displacement curve
during the ECAP process has five stages with regard to
the characters of load variation: fast increase stage I,
slow increase stage II, fast increase stage III, steady
state stage IV, and load drop stage IV. (2) A shear
strain within the workpiece is generated because the
inner part enters and goes out of the main deformation
zone earlier than the outer part. (3) The occurrence of
the lesser shear zone in the outer part of the workpiece,
which is the characteristics of the round corner die
ECAP process, is attributed to the faster flow of the
outer part compared with the inner part within the
main deformation zone. (4) The stress histories of the
inner part and the outer part are compression-tension
and compression-tension-compression, respectively. (5)
The pressed workpiece is divided into three zones
(front, steady, and end zones). In order to get the
steady state zone, the length of the workpiece should be
at least four times its width for 1100Al under the
process conditions investigated.
Acknowledgements
The author acknowledges many fruitful discussions
with Professor I. V. Alexandrov and Professor Y. Es-
128 H.S. Kim / Materials Science and Engineering A315 (2001) 122–128
trin. M. H. Seo at Chungnam National University is
appreciated for his calculation and preparing the
figures. This work was supported by Korea Research
Foundation Grant (KRF-2000-042-E00095).
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