Unlike material removal processes, aluminum extrusion is a forming process. In extrusion, the raw aluminum is first heated and then shaped into the required part using a ram to push it through a die. Aluminum extrusion uses round stocks of aluminum or aluminum alloy, called “billets”, to produce parts with fixed cross-sectional profiles and shapes.
Primarily, aluminum extrusion process only requires a furnace and a press with a die. For extrusion, the billet is first heated to a high temperature to make it more ductile. The temperature might be near room temperature or as high as recrystallization temperature. Based on this temperature, the process is called cold, warm or hot extrusion.
