Titanium alloy bar and billet (forging stock)

01

Choose the grade by UNS number

The reviewed ASTM B348/B348M-21 summary covers annealed titanium and titanium-alloy bars and billets. Its grades include unalloyed titanium (UNS R50250, R50400, R50550, R50700); unalloyed titanium with palladium or ruthenium additions (for example R52400 with 0.12–0.25% Pd and R52404 with 0.08–0.14% Ru); and alloys such as Ti-6Al-4V (R56400), Ti-6Al-4V with extra-low interstitials, ELI (R56407), Ti-3Al-2.5V (R56320), Ti-5Al-2.5Sn (R54520), Ti-3Al-8V-6Cr-4Zr-4Mo (R58640) and Ti-15Mo-3Al-2.7Nb-0.25Si (R58210). [1]

The specification defines H grades — 2H, 7H, 16H and 26H — as identical to the corresponding numeric grade except for a higher guaranteed minimum tensile strength of 58 ksi (400 MPa), says they are intended primarily for pressure-vessel use, and allows them to be certified to the numeric grade as well. [1]

Editorial note: specify the UNS number as well as the alloy name, because B348 lists more than one variant of the same base alloy (for example Ti-6Al-4V with and without ELI, and with palladium or ruthenium additions). [1]

United Performance Metals’ ELI sheet lists both UNS R56401 and R56407 on its cover, while the reviewed B348-21 scope identifies Grade 23 as R56407. Confirm the ordered UNS identity rather than mapping the supplier’s combined cover to a single grade. The sheet gives density 4.42 g/cm³ at 22 °C, liquidus 1650–1660 °C ±14 °C as printed, thermal conductivity 6.6 W/m·K at 20 °C, and specific heat 0.580 J/g·K at 20 °C and 0.930 J/g·K at 870 °C. Its annealed B348 longitudinal bar row, up to 3.00 in diameter/thickness at 20 °C, lists UTS 828 MPa, yield-column value 759 MPa, elongation 10% and reduction of area 25%. The yield-column heading prints “.02% YS”; confirm that offset with the supplier instead of relabelling it 0.2%. These are sheet entries for information, not design guarantees. [3] [1]

Editorial calculation: assuming a homogeneous, solid circular cylinder at the sheet’s 22 °C density of 4.42 g/cm³ (4420 kg/m³), exactly 1 m long with no chamfers or machining allowances, mass = density × πd²/4 × length. An assumed 100 mm diameter gives approximately 34.7 kg; an assumed 200 mm gives approximately 139 kg. These are geometric mass estimates, not manufacturer-published weights or measured bar masses. [3]

The UPM physical-property table prints beta transus as 966 ±14 °C in its Celsius column and 1825 ±25 °F in its Fahrenheit column. Those entries are not equivalent. Editorial calculation: converting the printed Fahrenheit entry gives (1825 − 32) × 5/9 ≈ 996.1 °C, with tolerance 25 × 5/9 ≈ 13.9 °C. This conversion is not a measured beta transus or a forging-temperature recommendation. Retain both printed entries and obtain supplier clarification before setting a heat-treatment or forging schedule. [3]

Give the supplier the specification and edition, UNS grade, product form (round or square bar, billet), diameter or section and tolerance, length, condition (annealed), surface condition, chemistry and tensile certification, ultrasonic or other NDT requirements, the downstream forging specification, quantity and heat or lot traceability.

02

Set condition, surface finish and tests

B348 requires every grade to meet its chemical composition, with intentionally added elements identified, analysed and reported, and requires tension-test specimens to be machined and tested at a specified strain rate through yield and an increasing rate after. Annealed material may be supplied descaled, sandblasted, ground or rough turned. [1]

The reviewed ASTM B381-13(2019) summary, for titanium and titanium-alloy forgings, covers 39 annealed grades from F-1 to F-38 (including F-2H, F-7H, F-16H and F-26H), requires the specified tensile strength, yield strength and elongation, and leaves non-destructive tests — ultrasonic, X-ray or surface inspection — to be specified by the purchaser where required. [2]

Editorial note: because B381 leaves NDT to the purchaser, decide at the bar-ordering stage whether the stock must be ultrasonically tested, so that defects are found before forging rather than in the finished part. [2] [1]

03

Cover aerospace stock and see what forging does to the bar

SAE publishes Aerospace Material Specifications (AMS) for the same alloy; the scope page for AMS4928 (revision W, December 2017; first issued July 1957) states that it covers the alloy as bars, wire, forgings, flash welded rings and drawn shapes up through 10.000 in (254.00 mm) inclusive in diameter or least distance between parallel sides, and stock of any size for forging or flash welded rings. SAE lists a later revision, AMS4928X, dated 2025-10-20, so name the revision on the order. [4]

The 2022 Henan Polytechnic study used commercially produced TC4 stock. Its Materials and Methods cites a beta-transition temperature of approximately 975 °C from reference 20. The samples were forged at 600 °C with 33% height reduction per pass, rotating between passes; three passes form a cycle. The paper prints the strain-rate unit as “10⁻¹ s”, rather than an explicit inverse-second unit; ask the authors to clarify the intended unit. After four cycles its tensile specimens showed yield strength 742 → 900 MPa, UTS 747 → 921 MPa and elongation 3.9% → 12.1%. These are the study’s specimens and process, not incoming-bar certificate values. [5]

The study’s cited approximately 975 °C and the UPM sheet’s conflicting 966 ±14 °C / 1825 ±25 °F entries are different source statements. Their difference is not established here as a heat-to-heat effect. Confirm the actual heat’s beta transus and resolve the supplier sheet’s unit discrepancy before using it for process planning. [5] [3]

04

Titanium bar mill documentation

TSM lists titanium bars alongside other titanium product forms; identify the ordered bar grade and the producing mill on the material certificate.

Ask any supplier for mill certificates showing UNS grade, heat chemistry, tensile results and surface condition to B348 or the stated equivalent. [1]

05

UNS grade, annealed condition and inspection terms

The reviewed B348 summary identifies grade, annealed condition, surface options and tension-test requirements. B381 concerns the finished forging rather than the incoming bar. [1] [2]

06

Bar size, heat analysis and forging-stock acceptance

Specify the material heat and incoming-stock acceptance separately from the properties required after forging. Supplier data below are attached to the identified sheet and test condition. [1] [3]

07

Send the grade, size and test data together

Paste it into your enquiry below or into an email to a maker, then replace every bracket.

Spec: [ASTM B348/B348M edition or equivalent]
Grade: [UNS number]
Form/size: [round; square; mm; tolerance; length]
Surface: [descaled; ground; rough turned]
Tests: [chemistry; tensile; UT]
Downstream: [forging spec, e.g. ASTM B381 grade]
Quantity: [kg; pieces; heats]

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