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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Influence of geometrical ratios in forgeability of complex shapes during hot forging of Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy

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Abstract Titanium alloys are considered desirable materials when both mechanical properties and weight reduction are requested at the same time. This class of materials is widely used in application fields, like aeronautical, in which common steels and light-weight materials, like aluminum alloys, are not able to satisfy all operative service conditions. Most of manufacturing processes of titanium alloy components are based on machining operations, which allow obtaining very accurate final shapes but, at the same time, are affected by several disadvantage like material waste and general production costs. During the last decade, the forging processes for titanium alloys have attracted greater attention from both industrial and scientific/academic researchers because of their potential in providing a net shaped part with minimal need for machining. In this paper, a numerical analysis of the forging process design for an Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy aerospace component is presented that focuses on the role of material evolution during thermomechanical processing. This component geometry is characterized by thin webs and ribs, and sharp corner and fillet radii. The numerical model was tested and validated by means of comparison with real experimental forgings in order to verify the quality in the prediction of material flow and microstructure evolution. Moreover, the analysis of forgeability of the same component with more critical geometrical ratios is considered in order to test the capability of code to support the forging sequence design in the case of a complex shape component.