Numerical Simulation of Three-Dimensional Extrusion Process Using hp-Adaptive Finite Element Model

Extrusion of aluminum sections is analyzed with a solution hp-adaptive finite element model. The analysis is based on the assumption that the elastic effects are negligible and rigid-viscoplastic material behavior is acceptable. The equations governing the flow of incompressible non-Newtonian fluids are solved using an iterative penalty finite element model. An error estimation scheme based on the element residual method is used to obtain error indicators that form a basis for mesh refinement. The results obtained with solution adapted meshes are compared with those obtained after a series of uniform refinements of the coarse mesh. Based on the analysis it is observed that reliable a-posteriori estimates of local errors in the solution provide near optimal finite element meshes for solving complex problems.