Free-Forging of Pure Titanium with High Reduction of Thickness by Plasma-Carburized SKD11 Dies

Abstract

A tool steel type SKD11 punch was plasma carburized at 673 K for 14.4 ks at 70 Pa to make carbon supersaturation. This carburized SKD11 punch was employed for upsetting the pure titanium wire with the diameter of 1.00 mm up to the reduction of thickness by 70% in a single shot. Its contact interface to titanium work was analyzed to describe the anti-galling behavior in this forging. Little trace of titanium proved that the galling process was suppressed by the in situ solid lubrication. The isolated free carbon agglomerates are wrought as a solid lubricant to sustain the galling-free forging process. This anti-galling upsetting reduced the residual strains in the forged wires. A long titanium wire with a length of 45 mm was incrementally upset to yield the titanium ribbon with a thickness of 0.3 mm, the width of 2.3 mm, and the length of 50 mm. The grain size of original pure titanium was much reduced to 2 μm on average. A micro-pillared microtexture was imprinted onto this forged titanium ribbon.