Patent ID: 6638381
Filing Date: 2003-10-28
Classification: B21C,B21J,B21K,B23K,Y10T

Abstract:
A method for making a ultra-fine grain titanium or titanium-alloy article comprising the steps of:providing a coarse grain titanium or titanium-alloy material having a first grain size; heating said titanium or titanium-alloy material to a first temperature, said first temperature slightly below the solutionizing treatment temperature and melting temperature for said titanium or titanium-alloy material; introducing said heated titanium or titanium-alloy material into a friction stir processing tooling device; stirring said solutionized titanium or titanium-alloy material within said friction stir processing device for a predetermined amount of time sufficient to impart an ultra-fine grain structure on said heated titanium or titanium-alloy material; removing and reconsolidating said ultra-fine grain titanium or titanium-alloy material; forming an article from said ultra-fine grain titanium or titanium-alloy material; and artificially-aging said article to form the ultra-fine grain titanium or titanium-alloy article.