Batch Processing in Preassembled Die Sets-A New Process Design for Isothermal Forging of Titanium Aluminides

Titanium aluminide (TiAl) turbine blades produced by isothermal forging have recently been implemented in the low-pressure part of commercial aircraft jet engines. However, the slow speed of isothermal forging, costly molybdenum-based dies and the required protective forging atmosphere makes the process rather expensive. Currently, industrial forging is done by closed-die isothermal forging processes with stationary dies. Idle time occurs when single parts are inserted and extracted from the dies. As an interesting alternative for forging small parts, a new set-up is devised and explored in this work, i.e., batch processing. Using a die set which allow for off-line preassembly and preheating, multiple parts can be forged in one stroke. The design of the batch process was based on a new material model, which was implemented into a finite element system to identify the forging parameters. The setup of the press transport system for batch processing, as well as the results of the simulations and forging experiments are presented. A cost comparison between the new process and conventional forging with stationary dies concludes that for smaller parts such as compressor blades, batch processing offers advantages regarding productivity and cost.