J. Fanning, TIMET-R&D, Henderson, NV
Until recently, virtually all production of Ti-6Al-4V has been per traditional aerospace specifications, which typically require multiple vacuum arc re-melting (VAR) cycles. During the past several years cold hearth melting has been used in place of one of the VAR cycles because of the ability of the process to remove inclusions. However, another potential benefit of the cold hearth melting process is that significant cost savings may be achieved. Although single melt heats of commercially pure titanium have been routinely produced for many years, the concept of using single melt for alloy grades (including Ti-6Al-4V) is relatively new. This presentation includes the results of mechanical property and other evaluations of Ti-6Al-4V plate produced by EBSM.