Effects of Parameters on Inhomogeneous Deformation and Damage in Isothermal Local Loading Forming of Ti-Alloy Component

Isothermal local loading (ILL) forming technology provides a new way to form largescale rib-web (LSRW) components of Ti-alloy, widely used in the aero-space fields as key load-bearing structures. However, the metal undergoes complex plastic inhomogeneous deformation and microstructural evolution, this will lead to macroscopical forming defects and further damage due to multi-process parameters and local loading method, making the process and forming quality hard to control. Using numerical simulation, combined with experiment, influences of various process parameters on forming process, inhomogeneous deformation and damage have been explored for ILL of LSRW components, such as the types of die-forging mode, frictional conditions, and local loading parameters (partitioning of the loading zone, constraint conditions, and loading pass). Then the reasonable forming conditions for LSRW components of Ti-alloy to be studied are proposed. The practical forming experiment of TA15 LSRW component was achieved successfully and the forging with good forming quality, excellent microstructure, and comprehensive mechanical properties was obtained, which indicates the reliability and practical value of results obtained in this article.