Conversion of titanium and titanium alloys by hydraulic presses is preferred to hammer forging mainly due to the different deformation rates of both forging methods. Thermo-mechanical effects influence on macro- and microstructures and in particular on core structures of forged products. The new hydraulic/mechanical radial forging machine GFM-RF 70 is a consistent further development of the classic SX type series. Forging with varying stroke frequencies and angles of rotation opens up technical possibilities, which were hitherto reserved to hydraulic forging presses. The new machine is able to optimize all forging parameters and provides for a well-worked core structure as well as an improved surface quality. The process control system and software of the RF 70 results in minimum property variation from billet to billet throughout the lengths. This paper describes the processing of titanium ingots on the radial forging machine RF 70 of Edelstahl Witten-Krefeld GmbH/Germany. The target was to produce large-sized premium quality round billets of Ti 6Al-4V for aerospace application. The achieved results regarding structure, yield and cost-efficiency are reported. Improvements associated with the new process technology and equipment design are compared with conventional production results on hydraulic presses.
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