Formability Difference between TC4 Titanium Alloy Hollow Shaft and AISI 1045 Steel Hollow Shaft Formed by Cross Wedge Rolling with a Mandrel
Abstract Production of TC4 alloy hollow shaft formed by cross wedge rolling (CWR) can meet the needs of the lightweight structures in aviation field. Different from the steel, the formability of TC4 alloy is sensitive to deformation temperature. In this work, the formability difference of TC4 alloy hollow shaft and AISI 1045 steel hollow shaft formed by CWR with a mandrel was studied numerically and experimentally. The results show that the influence of temperature on TC4 alloy flow stress is larger than that of 1045 steel, and the peak stress of TC4 alloy at 900 °C is close to that of 1045 steel at 1050 °C. For the hollow shafts of two materials, the ellipticity increases with increasing the inner hole diameter. For the same size of thin-walled billets, the forming quality of TC4 alloy at 900 °C is better than that of 1045 steel at 1050 °C. The CWR temperature range of TC4 alloy is narrower than 1045 steel. The increase of the initial deformation temperature can significantly increase the ellipticity of TC4 alloy and the appropriate forming temperature range of CWR TC4 alloy hollow shaft should be lower than 950 °C. Moreover, the rolling force and torque of TC4 alloy hollow shaft are smaller than that of 1045 steel when CWR hollow billet with the same dimensions.