Aspects of forging of titanium alloys and the production of blade forms

The effects of temperature and strain rate on the forming characteristics of 6Al–4V Ti alloy and the intermetallic alloys, TiAl and Ti3Al are described and compared. Process conditions for forging 6Al–4V alloys are examined in detail to establish material and boundary condition data for accurate simulation of forging processes by finite element methods. Hot-die forging is investigated as a possible economic method for the production of blade forms near to net-shape. It is demonstrated that the numerical techniques used to predict process and product characteristics give close comparisons with experimental values.