Mecatheque
Results of collective works
Warm forming of titanium
With strong market growth, the aviation sector is a large consumer of titanium parts obtained by forming sheet metal. In order to answer the many questions from manufacturers about the use and formability of these materials, a report on current hot and cold forming techniques has been prepared (S2022). We have learned that current techniques such as SPF (superplastic forming) do have some effects on the metallurgy of the material used and its oxidation, which appear at temperatures above 500°C. It was therefore important to identify titanium forming techniques other than SPF that would allow expansion characterisation tests to be performed, at the mid-range of temperatures (300, 400 and 500°C), on three grades of titanium – Ti6Al4V, T60, T40 – and also to check that press forming was still effective at these temperatures and to prevent oxidation occurring once the 500°C barrier is passed, while keeping tooling costs at a reasonable level. The results obtained are accurate regarding press forming, but less convincing in terms of oxidation, which will therefore require further investigation in order to help manufacturers to produce parts without needing to use inert atmosphere facilities, as is required for SPF.
Author : Guilbert DAOLIO, Cetim
Updated 05/27/2020
