Process capabilities of commercially pure titanium grade 2 formed through warm incremental sheet forming

Abstract

Commercially pure titanium (CP-Ti) Grade-2 has many applications due to its good weldability, strength, ductility, formability, and superior corrosion resistance. Although, CP-Ti Grade-2 can be formed at room temperature, however, it has lower ductility at room temperature. Therefore, heat treatment or thermal activation is required to increase its ductility and formability. In this paper, the process capabilities of CP-Ti Grade-2 to form the components through warm incremental sheet forming (ISF) has been investigated. To identify the optimal temperature at which CP-Ti Grade-2 sheets can be incrementally formed, straight groove tests were performed experimentally at various temperatures. Two geometries, namely, varying wall angle truncated cone, and constant wall angle truncated cone were used as test cases to evaluate the formability of CP-Ti Grade-2, in terms of limiting wall angle. The formability was also assessed through forming limit diagram obtained by Finite Element (FE) simulation. With forming limit damage criterion, fracture in the formed component was predicted with FE simulation using Abaqus Explicit software. To assess the process capabilities of CP-Ti Grade-2 sheet formed through warm ISF, thickness distribution, forming forces, geometrical accuracy, and surface roughness were analyzed through both FE simulation and experimental work.