Abstract
Ti-6Al-4V alloy is a critical strategic metal used in aerospace structure due to the high specific strength, toughness, durability, low density, corrosion resistance. Examples of application of this alloy are airframe structural components, aircraft gas turbine disks and blades. Forming of this alloy is not easy due to its high strength and low formability. However, this alloy shows superplastic properties that allow for large plastic deformation under certain conditions. Combination of superplastic forming and diffusion bonding(SPF/DB) processes of this alloy has been widely used to replace mechanically fastened structures with reduced weight and fabrication costs. In this study, superplastic forming/diffusion bonding technology has been developed for fabricating lightweight sandwich panels with Ti-6Al-4V alloy. The experimental results show the forming of titanium lightweight sandwich structure is successfully performed from 3 and 4 sheets of Ti-6Al-4V.
