The new TISTRAQ process: Solution treatment with rapid quenching and annealing for Ti-6Al-4V sheet metal part forming - the effect of processing parameters on microstructure and mechanical properties

The phase and TTT diagrams of the Ti-6Al-4V system allow the development of a new forming process for a more energy- and materialefficient production of sheet metal parts. This new “TISTRAQ” process is composed of two steps. In terms of process technology, the first step is comparable to a direct press-hardening process already well known for steels. In this step, the Ti-6Al-4V sheet material is resistively heated to a temperature below β-transus Tβ and, after a very short holding time, simultaneously formed and quenched by use of water cooled tools. Thereby, the β phase undergoes a martensitic transformation. The second step is a subsequent short-time annealing, which leads to a hardening of the material. In this work, a new test rig using resistive heating technique was used in order to produce different solution treated and tool quenched (STQ) and subsequently annealed (STA) states. In this paper, the effects of heating rate, solution treatment temperature and holding time on microstructure and mechanical properties are addressed. For the characterisation, tensile testing and scanning electron microscopy were used. By the systematic variation of applied processing parameters, dominating effects on microstructure and mechanical properties were evaluated. For example, the solution treatment temperature was found to have a significant effect on microstructural features and characteristic strength and strain values. The obtained results reveal a high potential for future technical applications.