Production of Ti-6Al-4V Sheets for Low Temperature Superplastic Forming

The availability to produce Ti-6Al-4V sheet material with submicron-grained microstructure for superplastic forming (SPF) has been studied. The laboratory scale sheets with an average grain size of 0.3 μm and the commercial size sheets with an average grain size of 0.65 μm were produced by pack rolling manufacturing technique from the forgings with pre-formed submicrocrystalline (SMC) structure. The sheets possessing isotropic mechanical properties in the sheet plane had higher yield strength, ultimate tensile strength. Over the exceptionally low temperature range of 700-750°C the SMC sheets demonstrated enhanced superplastic properties, namely an initial flow stress of 20-25 MPa and elongation more than 600% at the strain rate of 3×10-4/s. The sheet material with SMC structure was characterized by well formability compared to a conventional sheet under low temperature superplastic conditions.