Abstract
This paper is concerned with the mechanical property changes of the milli-size products manufactured by forward extrusion processes with square dies. Experiments are carried out with pure aluminum and pure copper billets. Extrusion ratio and knock-out pad are chosen as the important process parameters affecting the changes of mechanical properties such as shear strength and hardness. Shear strength tests with the extruded milli-size pin have shown the strong relation between victors hardness and shear strength in the neck of a stepped pin. As the extrusion ratio increases, the hardness on both the surface and the center line of a pin also increase. It is also noted that the hardness on the surface is a little higher than that on the center. The existence of knock-out pad in extrusion die causes the hardness in the neck of a extruded pin to increase. Finally, the approximated linear relations between shear strength and hardness of a pin are suggested.