Page 52 - MY STORY

The problem was that Douglas had never before used any

of the very new, and relatively unproven, high strength
titanium alloys. My assignment, as the newly minted
titanium expert, was to figure out which titanium alloy to

use, determine the best method for fabrication, write all
the materials & process specifications for procurement
and manufacturing, and help oversee the test program to

validate the material selection and design.

Without great detail, my selected alloy was the newly

developed Ti-6Al-4V (6% aluminum, 4% vanadium,
balance titanium). I worked with a local manufacturer

that could take a 3-4” diameter bar, and by using
self-resistance-electrical-heating push on the ends of the
bar to form a pancake in the heated bar-middle of about 2-
3 inches thick x 10” diameter. I had to make sure that the

forging had the proper “flow lines” going from the
handles curving smoothly into the pancake section. The

forging temperature could not exceed 1725 degrees F, so
the titanium alloy grain size would not be excessive.