Study on blank optimization design of conical ring rolling process for TC4 titanium alloy by numerical simulation

The ring blank plays an important role in the geometric accuracy, temperature and strain fields during the conical ring rolling process for TC4 titanium alloy. In this paper, we have first designed two kinds of ring blanks with unequal thickness to optimize the traditional blank with equal thickness. One is based on the mandrel geometry and the other is based on the main roll geometry. And then the response rules and mechanism of the roundness, thickness uniformity and temperature and stain fields of the rolled ring for the three kinds of blanks have been revealed through numerical simulation based on ABAQUS. The results show that, under the above three types of blanks, namely blanks based on mandrel geometry, based on the main roll geometry and with equal thickness, the rolling force orderly tends to be bigger; the roundness and thickness uniformity of the rolled ring orderly tend to be worse; the temperature distribution of the rolled ring orderly becomes more inhomogeneous; and the equivalent plastic strain distribution orderly becomes more homogeneous. So the blank contacting with the mandrel is the best selection among the above three types of blanks for the conical ring rolling process of TC4 titanium alloy billets.