Institute of Fundamental Technological Research

The interfacial heat transfer coefficient (IHTC) for titanium alloys is an important parameter in non-isothermal hot stamping processes to determine the temperature field as well as temperature-dependent material behaviours that consequently affect the post-form properties of the formed components. However, the IHTC for titanium alloys in hot stamping processes has seldom been studied before. In the present research, the effects of contact pressure, lubricant, surface roughness, tooling material and initial blank temperature on the IHTC for the titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V were studied and modelled to characterise the IHTC values under various hot stamping conditions as well as identify the functional mechanisms affecting the IHTC. Furthermore, the results of hot stamping of Ti-6Al4V wing stiffener components were used to verify the simulation results of the temperature field of the formed component with an error of less than 5%.

interfacial heat transfer coefficient (IHTC), Ti-6Al-4V, hot stamping, experimental validation

Near-α titanium alloys have extensive applications in high temperature structural components of aircrafts. To manufacture complex-shaped titanium alloy panel parts with desired microstructure and good properties, an innovative low-cost hot stamping process for titanium alloy was studied in this paper. Firstly, a series of hot tensile tests and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) observations were performed to investigate hot deformation characteristics and identify typical microstructural evolutions. The optimal forming temperature range is determined to be from 750 °C to 900 °C for hot stamping of TA15. In addition, a unified mechanisms-based material model for TA15 titanium alloy based on the softening mechanisms of recrystallization and damage was established, which enables to precisely predict stress-strain behaviors and potentially to be implemented into Finite Element (FE) simulations for designing the reasonable processing window of structural parts for the aerospace industry.

TA15, hot stamping, phase evolution, deformation, modelling