Feasibility study of a novel hot stamping process for Ti6Al4V alloy

To investigate the feasibility of a novel hot stamping process for the Ti6Al4V titanium alloy using low temperature forming tools, mechanical properties of the material were studied using hot tensile tests at a temperature range of 600 - 900 degrees C with a constant strain rate of 1s(-1). Hot stamping tests were carried out to verify the feasibility of this technology and identify the forming window for the material. Results show that when the deformation temperature was lower than 700 degrees C, the amount of elongation was less than 20%, and it also had little change with the temperature. However, when the temperature was higher than 700 degrees C, a good ductility of the material can be achieved. During the forming tests, parts failed at lower temperatures (600 degrees C) due to the limited formability and also failed at higher temperatures (950 degrees C) due to the phase transformation. The post-form hardness firstly decreased with the temperature increasing due to recovery and then increased due to the phase transformation. Qualified parts were formed successfully between temperatures of 750 - 850 degrees C, which indicates that this new technology has a great potential in forming titanium alloys sheet components.