Study on Numerical Simulation of Whole Process of Titanium Alloy Ingot Production

At present, the engineering titanium alloy ingot has formed a mature production process of using hydraulic press to press electrode block & argon shielding plasma welding electrode & vacuum arc melting method. However, the metallurgical defects of high-performance titanium alloys are sporadic. In the context of engineering application, the specification of the research object is enlarged, and it is difficult to quantify the influences of various factors on the ingots through limited experimental methods. In this paper, TC17 titanium alloy is taken as the research object, and the whole process numerical simulation and experimental analysis are combined to carry out investigate the relative density and equivalent stress distribution of the electrode block in the cause of preparation, weld morphology and residual stress distribution of the electrode welded, and the influences of sti- rring electric current on the maximum depth of the molten pool and Cr distribution in the vacuum arc remelting process. Results show that in the process of pressing, the relative density and residual stress of the electrode block are uneven, which will cause quality problem of the product. The residual stress peaks of the welded electrode occur in the center of beam and the heat affected zone. In the process of vacuum arc remelting, the effect laws of stirring current on the maximum depth of the molten pool and the distribution of Cr element are nonlinear.The influencing factors and control measures of composition uniformity in the production process of TC17 titanium alloy ingot are analyzed in depth, which lays a foundation for realizing the engineering goal of high uniformity, high consistency and low cost of TC17 titanium alloy ingot.