Study on Hot Press Forming Process of Large Curvilinear Generatrix Workpiece of Ti55 High-Temperature Titanium Alloy

Abstract

In order to manufacture complex curvilinear generatrix workpieces of high-temperature titanium alloy, the hot tensile behavior of Ti55 alloy sheet was tested and the hot press forming process was investigated using Finite Element Method (FEM) simulation and experiment. The hot tensile experiments of Ti55 rolled sheet were conducted at the temperatures of 800–900 °C with the strain rates of 0.001–0.1 s−1. According to the results of hot tensile tests and microstructure evolution, the proper hot press forming parameters were determined as the temperature of 850 °C and the strain rates of 0.001–0.01 s−1. The wrinkling mechanism in the transition region was analyzed and the initial blank sheet geometry was optimized by FE simulation of hot press forming. The two-step hot press forming process was better to produce the complex sheet workpiece of Ti55 alloy than the one-step hot forming scheme, which could restrain the wrinkling trend and ensure the microstructure and mechanical properties of the hot formed workpieces.