Wear of Inconel 718 die during aluminium extrusion - a case study

The wear analysis of an aluminium extrusion die made of Inconel 718 alloy has been performed. The highest degree of wear was observed in the middle of the contact surface with no or little wear in the joining regions. The wear mechanism was similar to that for steel dies and consisted in adhesive and abrasive modes. Strong adhesion of aluminium to the die led to the formation of Ni-Al-Si-Mo-Ti-Cr-Fe-Zn-O compounds that, along with aluminium oxides, acted abrasively and resulted in considerable material removal after 40 extrusion cycles.