Recently, Panzhihua Iron and Steel Group successfully produced 3.5 mm diameter TA1 wire at a speed of 1.6 m/s by continuous drawing, which marked that the advanced titanium alloy wire technology center of Panzhihua Iron and Steel was built and put into use in Panzhihua Iron and Steel Chengdu Materials Institute. This move filled the gap in Panzhihua Iron and Steel's high-end wire products for titanium and titanium alloys, and provided a guarantee for the development and preparation of a series of high-end titanium and titanium alloys, high-temperature alloys, heat-resistant alloys and other wire products.
In 2017, after Panzhihua Iron and Steel Chengdu Materials Institute received a supply request for titanium alloy wire from a user in Chengdu, it quickly established a titanium alloy wire research group and immediately carried out in-depth technical and market research. Titanium alloy wire is also the key raw material for the emerging fused wire additive manufacturing in recent years. Mastering the titanium alloy wire preparation technology means mastering the key to the future additive manufacturing field. The traditional titanium alloy wire processing method adopts hot drawing process. Titanium alloy will stick to the mold during hot drawing. The entire demolding process route is long, and the product surface quality and dimensional accuracy stability are poor. Affected by various factors, the minimum diameter of titanium and titanium alloy products currently produced by Panzhihua Iron and Steel is far from meeting user needs.
Faced with the development of smaller-sized titanium alloy wire products, Panzhihua Iron and Steel's scientific research staff rose to the challenge, conducted in-depth research on domestic and foreign technical information, and visited major domestic titanium wire manufacturers for inspection and technical exchanges. After several years of exploration, they finally developed a novel titanium alloy wire preparation process technology and a complete set of equipment that integrates surface finishing, diameter reduction, continuous drawing, and dry cleaning. This process uses Panchangte's titanium and titanium alloy coils as raw materials, and is pickling-free throughout the process. It has good surface quality and high dimensional accuracy. It can produce nearly 10 specifications of titanium alloy wire products, making Panzhihua Iron and Steel the first to have a comprehensive coverage of titanium alloy wire and wire product preparation technology from 1.2 mm to 8.0 mm in diameter, which has reserved a solid technical foundation for the adjustment of Panzhihua's titanium product structure.
