Experimental study and finite element modelling of pure copper tube fabrication via the Parallel Tubular Channel Angular Pressing (PTCAP) Process

Abstract

The Parallel Tubular Channel Angular Pressing Process (PTCAP) has emerged as a promising method for refining the grain structure and enhancing the mechanical properties of metallic materials through severe plastic deformation. This study focuses on a comprehensive investigation of the PTCAP process, combining experimental and numerical analysis to gain insights into its underlying mechanisms. Experimental investigations involve processing a commercially pure copper tube using PTCAP under controlled conditions. In parallel, an explicit numerical analysis is developed using ABAQUS software to simulate the deformation behavior during PTCAP. The model incorporates material constitutive equations and accounts to describe the material response under high strain rates and large deformations. The research aims to investigate how multi-pass PTCAP affects hardness, strain homogeneity, and stress distribution. A comparison between the load punch from the experimental and FEM is conducted to validate the FEM results, and there is a good correlation between both. Hardness measurements are conducted at various stages to quantify the changes in material hardness resulting from the successive PTCAP passes. The hardness of the Cu tube increased by 63.45, 94.51, 103.98, and 105.64% after 1 to 4 passes, respectively.