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Abstract:
In this paper, the effects of heating parameters, including temperature ranging from 900 ℃ to 1000 ℃, heating rates ranging from 2 ℃∙s-1 to 100 ℃∙s-1, and 120 s soaking on the non-equilibrium microstructure evolution of Ti-6Al-4V alloy were studied. Microstructures after heating were characterized to reveal the mechanism of non-equilibrium phase transformation. Uniaxial tensile tests at room temperature were carried out to evaluate the effects of non-equilibrium microstructure on the mechanical properties. Results show that higher heating rate and lower temperature lead to lower β phase volume fraction and finer β grains. A transition region with element gradient forms in the αp grain near the αp/β phase boundary and transfers into β phase gradually during the heating. Rapid heating could confine the movement of the transition region, and therefore reduce the α→β transition and growth of the β phase. When the Ti-6Al-4V alloy was heated to 1000 ℃ at a rate of 50 ℃/s and then quenched immediately, the tensile strength was improved by 19.5% and reached up to 1263.0 MPa with the elongation only decreasing from 13.6% to 9.6% compared with the initial material. The main strengthening mechanism is that the rapid heating in the single-phase region avoids the rapid growth of the β phase, which leads to fully fine martensite formation after water quenching.

Keywords:
Rapid heating,Non-equilibrium microstructure,Mechanical properties,Strengthening mechanisms

Abstract:
In the present work, the compatibility relationship on the failure criteria between aluminium and polymer was established, and a mechanics-based model for a three-layered sandwich panel was developed based on the M-K model to predict its Forming Limit Diagram (FLD). A case study for a sandwich panel consisting of face layers from AA5754 aluminium alloy and a core layer from polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) was subsequently conducted, suggesting that the loading path of aluminium was linear and independent of the punch radius, while the risk for failure of PVDF increased with a decreasing radius and an increasing strain ratio. Therefore, the developed formability model would be conducive to the safety evaluation on the plastic forming and critical failure of composite sandwich panels.

Keywords:
formability, M-K model, failure criteria, composite sandwich panel

Abstract:
During hot stamping of titanium alloys, insufficient forming temperatures result in limited material formability, whereas temperatures approaching the β phase transus also result in reduced formability due to phase transformation, grain coarsening and oxidation during the long-time heating. To solve this problem, Fast light Alloys Stamping Technology (FAST) is proposed in this paper, where fast heating is employed. Effects of heating parameters on the formability and post-form strength were studied by tensile tests. Forming of a wing stiffener was performed to validate this new process. Results show that microstructure of TC4 alloy after fast heating was in nonequilibrium state, which could enhance ductility significantly compared with the equilibrium state. When TC4 alloy was first heated to 950 °C with heating rate of 100 °C/s and then cooled to 700 °C, the elongation at 700 °C was more than 3 times that of a slow heating rate with soaking. Nano-scaled martensite with high dislocation density transformed from β phase was observed under fast heating condition. A complex shaped wing stiffener was successfully formed from TC4 titanium alloy in less than 70 s including heating, transfer and forming, and the post-form strength was almost the same with the initial blank.

Keywords:
titanium alloys, fast heating, hot stamping, formability, post-form strength

Abstract:
The interfacial heat transfer coefficient (IHTC) for titanium alloys is an important parameter in non-isothermal hot stamping processes to determine the temperature field as well as temperature-dependent material behaviours that consequently affect the post-form properties of the formed components. However, the IHTC for titanium alloys in hot stamping processes has seldom been studied before. In the present research, the effects of contact pressure, lubricant, surface roughness, tooling material and initial blank temperature on the IHTC for the titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V were studied and modelled to characterise the IHTC values under various hot stamping conditions as well as identify the functional mechanisms affecting the IHTC. Furthermore, the results of hot stamping of Ti-6Al4V wing stiffener components were used to verify the simulation results of the temperature field of the formed component with an error of less than 5%.

Keywords:
interfacial heat transfer coefficient (IHTC), Ti-6Al-4V, hot stamping, experimental validation

Abstract:
The poor intrinsic mechanical properties of chitosan hydrogels have greatly hindered their practical applications. Inspired by nature, we proposed a strategy to enhance the mechanical properties of chitosan hydrogels by construction of a nanofibrous and cellular architecture in the hydrogel without toxic chemical crosslinking. To this end, electrospun nanofibers including cellulose acetate, polyacrylonitrile, and SiO2 nanofibers were introduced into chitosan hydrogels by homogenous dispersion and lyophilization. With the addition of 30% cellulose acetate nanofibers, the cellular structure could be maintained even in water without crosslinking, and integration of 60% of the nanofibers could guarantee the free-standing structure of the chitosan hydrogel with a low solid content of 1%. Moreover, the SiO2 nanofiber-reinforced chitosan (SiO2 NF/CS) three-dimensional (3D) matrices exhibit complete shape recovery from 80% compressive strain and excellent injectability. The cellular architecture and nanofibrous structure in the SiO2 NF/CS matrices are beneficial for human mesenchymal stem cell adhesion and stretching. Furthermore, the SiO2 NF/CS matrices can also act as powerful vehicles for drug delivery. As an example, bone morphogenetic protein 2 could be immobilized on SiO2 NF/CS matrices to induce osteogenic differentiation. Together, the electrospun nanofiber-reinforced 3D chitosan matrices exhibited improved mechanical properties and enhanced biofunctionality, showing great potential in tissue engineering.

Keywords:
chitosan hydrogel, electrospun nanofiber, mechanical property, nanofibrous matrix, tissue engineering

Abstract:
A novel hot stamping process for Ti6Al4V alloy using cold forming tools and a hot blank was presented in this paper. The formability of the material was studied through uniaxial tensile tests at temperatures ranging from 600 to 900 °C and strain rates ranging from 0.1 to 5 s-1. An elongation ranging from 30% to 60% could be achieved at temperatures ranging from 750 to 900°C respectively. The main microstructure evolution mechanisms varied with the deformation temperature, including recovery, phase transformation and recrystallization. The hardness of the material after deformation first decreased with the temperature due to recovery, and subsequently increased mainly due to the phase transformation. During the hot stamping tests, qualified parts could be formed successfully at heating temperatures ranging from 750 to 850°C. The forming failed at lower temperatures due to the limited ductility of the material. At temperatures higher than 900°C, extensive phase transformation of α to β occurred during the heating. During the transfer and forming, the temperature dropped significantly which led to the formation of transformed β, reduction of the formability and subsequent failure. The post-form hardness distribution demonstrated the same tendency as that after uniaxial tensile tests.

Keywords:
titanium alloys, Ti6Al4V, hot stamping, microstructure

Abstract:
To investigate the feasibility of a novel hot stamping process for the Ti6Al4V titanium alloy using low temperature forming tools, mechanical properties of the material were studied using hot tensile tests at a temperature range of 600 - 900°C with a constant strain rate of 1s-1. Hot stamping tests were carried out to verify the feasibility of this technology and identify the forming window for the material. Results show that when the deformation temperature was lower than 700°C, the amount of elongation was less than 20%, and it also had little change with the temperature. However, when the temperature was higher than 700°C, a good ductility of the material can be achieved. During the forming tests, parts failed at lower temperatures (600°C) due to the limited formability and also failed at higher temperatures (950°C) due to the phase transformation. The post-form hardness firstly decreased with the temperature increasing due to recovery and then increased due to the phase transformation. Qualified parts were formed successfully between temperatures of 750 - 850°C, which indicates that this new technology has a great potential in forming titanium alloys sheet components.

Keywords:
titanium, hot stamping, metal forming

Keywords:
Ti6Al4V, tłoczenie na gorąco (hot stamping), formowalność tytanu

Keywords:
titanium alloys, hot stamping, formability, post-form strength

Keywords:
hot stamping, titanium alloys, FAST

Abstract:
The paper aims to investigate the nature of fracture behaviour through the microstructural and damage evolution analysis of a titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V) with tailored initial microstructures under FAST conditions. High-temperature uniaxial tensile tests with varying heating rates (4°C/s and 100°C/s) and temperatures (900 - 950°C) were conducted to study the effects of heating parameters on the formability and damage of the material. The microstructure and fracture morphology after high-temperature uniaxial tensile tests were characterised to reveal the evolution mechanisms of elongation and damage. It was found, that fast heating could restrain the phase transformation of α to β during the heating and therefore improve the formability of the Ti6Al4V titanium alloy under hot stamping condition.

Keywords:
Ti6Al4V, hot stamping, fracture behaviour, damage evolution