Wiredrawing of Low Cost Beta Titanium (Timetal~RLCB)

摘要

An investigation into the effect of heat treatment and processing variables on the drawability and microstructure of low cost metastable beta titanium alloy (Timetal~RLCB) is presented. Firstly, a range of solution treatments were carried out around the β transus, to determine the optimum conditions for wiredrawing. However the study demonstrated that regardless of the α/β phase fractions retained at room temperature (RT), the formation of the submicron omega phase (ω) during cooling, had an overriding effect on the mechanical behaviour. X-EDS analysis of the α/β phase chemistry after solution treatment enabled the construction of a quasi-binary phase diagram of the Timetal~RLCB system. Secondly, a finite element modelling package was employed for a parametric study, to determine the effects of solution treatment, die diameter and die angle on the drawing loads and Latham Cockcroft parameter. The optimum processing variables were then employed for wiredrawing trials, to both validate the model and determine the effects of wiredrawing on the microstructure.