Heart of the process
We work with you to develop the most cost-effective and optimal design for your product with our design engineers and with custom-made dies.
Extrusion die design and research
Dies are made of tool steels, which are super-hard and abrasion-resistant steels suitable for use in shaping other materials, like aluminium.
Extrusions and dies
Medium and large-sized extrusions are pressed through a die with only one opening. Smaller extrusions can be pressed through multi-aperture dies – with as many as 16 apertures.
Hydro makes its own dies and buys others from independent toolmakers. We develop design aids for the effective design of extrusion dies, we correct dies to optimize productivity, and we research die performance. We keep improving the production process to reduce costs for you, using:
- Material flow simulation in the dies
- Integration with computer-aided design systems to calculate flow resistance in ports, mandrel deflection and stresses in webs
- Heat treatment of tool steels
- Surface treatment of dies with methods such as nitriding, nitrocarburization, chemical vapor deposition and plasma vapor deposition
