Production Techniques for Extruding, Drawing, and Heat Treatment of Titanium Alloys

An economic manufacturing method is provided for the production of thin, long length, close tolerance extrusions of Ti-6Al-4V and Ti-8Al-1Mo-1V. The configuration chosen for extrusion was an .062 inch thick x 1 inch x 2 inch, T-shaped section, which was subsequently drawn to a thickness of .040 inch in successive passes and then heat treated. Major emphasis was placed on process improvement to demonstrate reproducibility of the method and to establish an industry capability to economically produce thin titanium alloy sections of high quality. A detailed production procedure for manufacturing was provided, an economic analysis of the process was conducted, and proposed specifications for (1) extruded and for (2) extruded and drawn titanium alloy lengths are included. (Author)