Forming Analysis and Heat Treatment of TC31 Titanium Alloy Component with High Ribs and Thin Webs

TC31 is a new type of high-temperature titanium alloy, but few researchers have studied the combination of forming and heat treatment of a component using this material. The component with high ribs and thin webs was studied by numerical simulation and trail production. Based on the establishment of the finite element model, the forming process was analyzed by simulation software, and the maximum forming load of the component was 1920 kN. Ultimately, there were no folding defects of the component during the forming process. The material flow law was revealed by selecting the typical section of the component, and then the forming process was verified and the fully filled component was obtained. After that, the component was subjected to post-processing, and three heat treatment methods were designed to conduct heat treatment experiments on it (heat treatment: solution treatment and aging treatment). By analyzing the influence of three heat treatment methods on mechanical properties, the optimal heat treatment method was obtained, namely a solution treatment at 960 °C for 2.5 h and aging treatment at 610 °C for 7 h. The ultimate tensile strength, yield strength, elongation, and section shrinkage of the component through forging forming and heat treatment are higher than those of original material; meanwhile, it also indicates that the designed heat treatment has a better effect on the high-temperature mechanical properties of this titanium alloy at 650 °C than that at 450 °C. The research on the combination of the forming and heat treatment of this component provides a reference for the engineering application of high-temperature titanium alloys.