Hot Forming of Sheet Titanium Alloy

Development of integrally heated draw dies and insulated die cases with a capability for accepting interchangeable die inserts greatly reduced problems of producing severely formed sheet titanium alloy airframe parts. Parts which were previously made in a multiple series of ambient temperature performing operations, followed by hot sizing, are now produced in less time than formerly required for hot sizing alone. High scrappage rates formerly encountered were reduced to the point of being negligible. Although stainless steel draw dies are expensive, their cost is still less than the combined costs of preforming tools and matched hot sizing tooling.