Preform design is an effective means of achieving the homogeneous deformation of workpiece materials and decreased load in metal forming. However, this approach has not been applied to equal channel angula. pressing (ECAP). In this paper, plastic deformation behavior of workpieces having four different preform shapes during ECAP was investigated using finite element analyses. The results indicated that a preform design of the workpiece head has a beneficial effect on homogeneous deformation, reducing the maximum pressing load at the initial stage and eliminating folding defects at strain concentration points.