3. Conform process

Large cross-sectional reductions can only be achieved by drawing and stretching in several passes. The Conform process achieves such reductions directly by extrusion, and continuously, unlike conventional extrusion. In this process, a blank is driven by friction between a grooved wheel and a shoe . The metal heats up as it enters the shoe. Once the metal has come to rest against the die, its temperature is such that it can be extruded through the die. Finished products such as heat exchanger tubes, sectoral wire or single wire with diameters ranging from 0.5 to 0.6 mm are obtained directly.

The limitations of this energy-intensive process lie in the low-quality characteristics...