Various Methods Of Titanium Forging
Aug 13, 2025
Forging is a forming process that applies external forces to titanium metal billets (excluding sheet metal) to cause plastic deformation, change size and shape, and improve performance. This is used to manufacture mechanical parts, workpieces, tools, or blanks. Furthermore, depending on the movement of the slide, there are vertical and horizontal slide movement methods (used for forging slender parts, lubrication and cooling, and high-speed production). Compensation devices can be used to increase movement in other directions. These different methods require different forging forces, process steps, material utilization, production output, dimensional tolerances, and lubrication and cooling methods, all of which influence the level of automation.
Based on the method of billet movement, forging can be categorized as open die forging, upsetting, extrusion, die forging, closed die forging, and closed upsetting. Closed die forging and closed upsetting forging have high material utilization due to the lack of flash. Complex forgings can be finished in one or several steps. The lack of flash reduces the stress-bearing area of the forging, reducing the required load. However, care should be taken to ensure that the blank is not completely confined. To this end, the blank volume, relative position of the forging dies, and forging measurement must be strictly controlled to minimize die wear.
Based on the die motion, forging can be categorized as pendulum rolling, pendulum rotary forging, roll forging, wedge cross rolling, ring rolling, and cross rolling. Pendulum rolling, pendulum rotary forging, and ring rolling can also be processed using precision forging. To improve material utilization, roll forging and cross rolling can be used as pre-processing steps for slender materials. Like open die forging, rotary forging also produces localized forming. Its advantage is that it can be achieved with lower forging forces compared to the size of the forging. In these forging methods, including open die forging, the material expands from the die surface toward the free surface during processing, making it difficult to ensure precision. Therefore, computer-controlled die motion and the rotary forging process can produce complex, high-precision products with lower forging forces, such as those used to produce large-scale, multi-variety steam turbine blades.
To achieve high precision, care should be taken to prevent overload at the bottom dead center and to control speed and die position. These factors can affect forging tolerances, shape accuracy, and die life. To maintain accuracy, it's also important to adjust the slider guide clearance, ensure rigidity, adjust the bottom dead center, and utilize auxiliary transmission devices.
The materials used in titanium forging are primarily pure titanium and titanium alloys of various compositions. The raw materials can be bar stock, ingots, metal powder, or liquid metal. The ratio of the metal's cross-sectional area before deformation to its cross-sectional area after deformation is called the forging ratio. Correctly selecting the forging ratio, appropriate heating temperature and holding time, appropriate starting and ending forging temperatures, and appropriate deformation volume and speed are crucial for improving product quality and reducing costs. Generally, round or square bar stock is used as the blank for small and medium-sized forgings. Bar stock offers uniform and excellent grain structure and mechanical properties, precise shape and dimensions, and excellent surface quality, making it easier to organize mass production. By properly controlling the heating temperature and deformation conditions, high-quality forgings can be produced without significant forging deformation.
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