Frequent Dangers at an Extrusion Plant
The dangers at extrusion plants are well known by many operators. Some measures in order to minimize the negative effects of these dangers on the plant activities are listed as follows.
Extrusion Tools
• Never perform extrusion with cold or room temperature extrusion tools.
• Never look inside the die exit during the extrusion.
• Don’t use insufficient supports for the supporting of the dies.
• Always use safety devices and shields.
• Many extrusion dies and support pieces are subject to stresses above the flow resistance of steel. It is unfortunately rather difficult to take full safety measures at this region of the extrusion.
• Never use a worn eyebolt for lifting a die. Ensure that the bolt is turned at least 4 or 5 full turns.
• Be attentive against the flaming possibility during applying lubricants to hot dies and tools. Pieces due to the breakage of the tools have caused many serious injuries. The dies are generally subjected to the highest stress during the initial exit of the extrusion. There are many cases known where pieces shot off towards the lower part of the press bench due to die destruction. The false alignment of the stem and the container result in that steel splinters from the tip of the stem shot out towards the press operator.
• The stems are designed for horizontal loading and the false alignment of the stem and the container may result in the development of axial bending stresses and thus in catastrophic failures. It is also seen that the stems were cracked from one end to the other in false alignment cases.