What Is The Best Slitting Process Technology For Titanium Alloy Strip?

With increasingly stringent quality requirements for titanium alloy strips in high-end manufacturing, slitting has become a key deep-processing procedure. Restricted by the material properties of  titanium alloys,  traditional shearing processes are prone to defects such as burrs, scratches and deformation, which hinder production efficiency. Optimizing supporting processes and equipment to solve processing bottlenecks is critical to improving the precision machining level of titanium alloys and meeting industrial demands.

1. Basic Process Principle

Titanium alloy strip slitting is a continuous shearing process. Paired circular cutters, combined with equipment tension, longitudinally and continuously cut wide master strips and trim defective selvages to obtain narrow strips with precise dimensions. The machining process consists of four stages: elastic extrusion, plastic slipping, crack initiation and layered fracture, which impose strict requirements on equipment, cutters and process parameters.

2. Complete Technological Flow

The production line adopts automatic continuous operation, and the overall flow is as follows: raw material re-inspection → uncoiling and flattening → straightening and deviation correction → pinch feeding → longitudinal slitting → selvage recovery → strip separation → pressing and shaping → tension winding → coil unloading → inspection and packaging.

Each process has clear functions: re-inspection eliminates defective raw materials; uncoiling and straightening release internal stress and ensure stable feeding; deviation correction prevents strip offset; slitting divides the strip into required widths; constant-tension winding avoids deformation. The integrated full-process operation minimizes human-induced errors.

1. Cutter Clearance

The recommended cutter clearance is 5% to 10% of the strip thickness. An excessively small clearance will cause material adhesion to cutters, scratched sections and accelerated cutter wear. An excessively large clearance will lead to burrs, edge collapse and skewed sections. Ultra-thin strips require high-precision mechanisms to set an extremely small clearance.

2. Shearing Speed

Titanium alloys feature rapid work hardening and poor thermal conductivity. The shearing speed should be reduced by 30% to 50% compared with that for carbon steel, generally controlled within 5~15 m/min. High shearing speed causes temperature rise, microcracks and dimensional deviation. A steady low speed reduces heat accumulation and work hardening, so as to guarantee section quality.

3. System Tension

Stable tension shall be maintained throughout the whole process. Excessive tension will result in tensile deformation and strip tearing; insufficient tension will cause slackness, offset and wrinkling. For ultra-thin strips, air cushion supports can be installed to reduce friction and avoid surface damage.

4. Cutter Selection and Operating Conditions

High-hardness and wear-resistant alloy tool steel or cemented carbide cutters are preferred, with sharp cutting edges and qualified coaxiality guaranteed. Regular inspection, grinding and replacement of cutters are necessary to prevent section and edge defects caused by cutter wear and runout.

• Incurable edge defects: Titanium alloys have strong viscosity and are susceptible to work hardening. Micro burrs and edge collapse inevitably remain after shearing. Additional polishing not only increases production costs but also may impair the edge performance of finished strips.
• Severe stress deformation: Residual stress is generated during shearing, which easily causes warping, twisting and even delayed cracking of strips, failing to meet the high-precision application requirements of high-end fields.
• Rapid cutter wear and high costs: Titanium alloys bring high cutting resistance and severe heat generation, leading to serious cutter wear. Frequent grinding and replacement raise the cost of consumables and downtime losses.
• High processing difficulty for ultra-thin strips: Ultra-thin strips with a thickness of 0.1~0.5 mm are vulnerable to vibration, tension and air flow, often suffering from deformation, dimensional deviation and scratches, resulting in poor processing stability.

• Parameter optimization: Establish a parameter database according to material grades and strip thicknesses, conduct coordinated regulation of various process parameters, and determine the optimal scheme through tests to improve the yield rate.
• Equipment upgrading: Optimize deviation correction, tension control, cooling and lubrication, vibration damping and supporting structures to enhance processing stability.
• Cutter management: Adopt cemented carbide cutters, implement precision inspection, regular grinding and maintenance, and standardize cutter assembly.
• Stress relief: Add flattening and aging procedures, and adopt gradient tension winding to eliminate residual stress and deformation.
• Quality control: Carry out full-process inspection and real-time on-line monitoring and parameter adjustment to strictly control the quality of finished products.
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