IQS Newsroom Articles on Titanium
About Titanium and Titanium Suppliers Including Buy Titanium, Titanium Alloys, Titanium Bars, Titanium Foil, Titanium Grades, Titanium Metal, Titanium Pipes, Titanium
Plate, Titanium Rods, Titanium
Sheet, Titanium
Tubing & Titanium
Wire.
Titanium metal is used for an ever-widening array of applications because it is a low density and extremely corrosion resistant metal, as strong as steel but half the weight per volume. It most often takes the form of a
titanium alloy, which contains other metals that alter its properties. These different types are organized into different
titanium grades, which define its applications and uses. Titanium has a few unusual qualities which make it a highly desirable metal in a broad range of industries which require ductility, strength and a high melting point, which makes for excellent heat resistance. The navy, aquariums, automotive manufacturers, racing sports, jewelers and the aerospace industry all
buy titanium to manufacture a wide range of products and materials. It is manufactured into many different shapes, including
titanium tubing,
titanium pipes,
titanium wire,
titanium bars,
titanium plate,
titanium foil,
titanium rods and
titanium sheet, by hot or cold forming, flat rolling, extrusion or welding. These titanium materials are either used as parts, sold as products or further processed.
Although titanium is a naturally and abundantly occurring element (it is the ninth most abundant element on Earth), it is never found in pure form, and the process of extracting it is long and costly. Titanium usually occurs in mineral deposits in the form of ilmenite and is extracted most often using the Kroll Method, which involves reducing titanium tetrachloride with magnesium. This reduction yields a raw and highly porous ore, which is called a sponge and pressed or melted into blocks for fabrication. When titanium is heated above a certain temperature it reacts with oxygen and either absorbs the oxide and changes its chemistry or becomes explosive, therefore forging and forming titanium can also be difficult and costly. Titanium's natural qualities of strength, low density, ductility and heat transference are often alloyed with various metals to create a hybrid of properties. Titanium steel is lighter and far more resistant to corrosion than regular steels; aluminum titanium alloys are finer and stronger; iron, copper and manganese titanium alloys also benefit from titanium's properties.
There are 38 grades of titanium classified by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). The first 5 grades are unalloyed, and the rest contain different ratios of elements such as aluminum, vanadium, tin, molybdenum, palladium, zirconium, niobium, nickel, ruthenium, silicon and iron. Titanium is also classified into 3 groups of structural alloys. Alpha titanium is usually alloyed with aluminum and tin, and is low to medium strength, non heat treatable and wieldable. It is ductile, has high notch toughness, and good mechanical properties at cryogenic temperatures. It also has the highest corrosion resistance and is used in the manufacturing of airplane parts and chemical processing equipment. Alpha Beta titanium is medium to high strength, heat treatable and wieldable. They are often hot formed and have limited cold forming abilities. They are used to make marine hardware, aircrafts and prosthetic devices. Finally, Beta titanium, the smallest group, is the highest in strength, most dense, fully heat treatable and usually wieldable. It exhibits high formability and is often extruded to make heavy duty aircraft parts.
Although titanium is rather expensive to extract and manufacture, the parts and products it produces still have many different uses. Once processed into an ore in the form of foil, sheet, wire, granules, sponge, nanosized activated powder, powder, mesh and rodtitanium, titanium is relatively easy to fabricate and extremely useful, which is why many industries choose it even at a higher cost and continually researches new possible uses for titanium. Aquarium, naval and other saltwater industries often use titanium tubing and titanium sheet for underwater parts due to its resistance to salt erosion, stress, microbiological corrosion and pitting. Because it is such a lightweight material with high strength, parts are manufactured from titanium plates by the automotive industry for valve springs, rocker arms, connecting rods, exhaust systems, drive shafts and steering gears. The biomedical industry uses titanium wire and bars in the production of orthopedic devices and catheters. Racing sports specifically use titanium to increase vehicular speed. Surgical and dental industries use titanium wire and titanium instruments to decrease the chance of allergic reactions, and many kinds of prosthesis are manufactured from pure titanium because it does not contaminate or corrode in the body. The aerospace industry uses titanium quite extensively for jet engines, missiles and spacecrafts. Specialized applications for titanium, titanium oxide and titanium alloys include semiconductor and battery titanium wires, chemical and petroleum handling, agri-food titanium tubing, orthopedics, sporting goods equipment, paint, toothpaste, paper, plastics, cement, jewelry and gem fabrication.
Types of Titanium
- , the most
common titanium alloy, is composed of 90% titanium, six percent aluminum
and four percent vanadium.
- ,
including aluminum beryllium, nickel-based superalloys and titanium,
have basic metal properties that are enhanced by key elemental alloying
additions.
-
is a mixture of titanium sponge and titanium scrap with iron. After
being mixed, the titanium and iron are melted together, forming a single
alloyed metal.
-
are materials that have unique strength and/or corrosion properties
at temperatures exceeding 1,000ºF (537°C), as well as high creep resistance
and resistance to softening and metal loss from oxidation, sulfidation
or carburization. High temperature alloys contain a large amount of
nickel (from 25 to 60%) and critical amounts of molybdenum, columbium,
chromium and titanium.
-
have superior strength and corrosion resistance under high temperatures.
Superalloys are used in applications such as jet engine components,
valves and gas turbines.
-
are sections of titanium that have been machined down to a solid bar.
The titanium bars are frequently shipped out and used by companies that
manufacture titanium products.
-
are milled products that have been hot-worked by either the forging,
extruding or roll processes, forming the material into round or round-corner
squared products. Titanium billets, which have diameters starting at
four inches, are mostly used as starting stock for subsequent forging
or extrusion processes.
-
like other bolts,
consist of a threaded pin or rod and a head at the opposite end. Titanium
bolts are preferred over other materials for their superior strength
and corrosion resistance.
-
are formed by pouring molten material into a mold in which it solidifies
into the shape of the mold. The reactive properties of titanium makes
the forming of titanium castings complex, though these products have
been successfully used in a wide variety of applications.
-
are large (sometimes more than 10 tons) masses, consisting of primarily
titanium but including other alloying elements. Titanium ingots are
large and mostly barrel shaped and are used primarily for heat exchangers
and piping in such industries as petrochemical plants, nuclear power
plants and seawater desalination plants.
- provide various titanium products to many industries.
-
can be fabricated using the extrusion or cold drawing processes. Large
diameter titanium pipe is typically fabricated by using a combination
of plasma welding with a TIG capping run in order to provide a quality
weld bead shape.
-
are widely used in the medical industry to correct skull defects or
repair fracturing of the skull.
-
have a superior strength-to-mass ratio. Titanium rods, if well-designed,
are about 20% lighter than comparable steel rods.
- is a thin, flat piece of titanium.
-
is pure titanium, which has a porous cellular form.
-
offer superior strength, rigidity and lightness. Titanium tubes, that
are largely formed from an alloy consisting of 3% aluminum and 2.5%
of vanadium (3-2.5), are costly, due to the refinery, tooling and processing
costs of the material.
-
is a fine wire or braided cable that is becoming more popular in the
biomedical and industrial fields for its small diameter and admirable
strength. Common diameters range from 0.0015" with fine wire to
over 0.2" with weld wire.
Titanium Terms
- A
uniform mixture or solid solution of at least two metals. Titanium is
most often acquired as an alloy.
- A brittle, oxygen-enriched
surface layer that is caused by the heat treatment of titanium at high
temperatures in an oxygen atmosphere. Alpha case should be removed prior
to any subsequent processing or finishing, as it can result in the embrittlement
of the titanium material, making it susceptible to stress corrosion.
- To coat or cover a
metallic surface with a protective or decorative oxide using electricity.
The colors produced by anodizing do not fade, as they are not a dye or
a pigment.
- A mechanical grit
or abrasive blasting process used to remove scale from larger titanium
products, such as ingots and billets. The grit, composed of silica, zircon
and aluminum, leaves a fine dust that is removed from the titanium by
a pickling process.
- An alloying element
that is used in several titanium alloys. Chromium typically has an alloying
weight percentage range of 2-12%.
- The amount of mass
contained within a specific volume under standardized conditions. The
density of titanium is 4,507 kg m-3, while the density of silver is 10,490
kg m-3.
-
The elements oxygen, nitrogen and carbon, referred to as interstitials,
which have been reduced beyond the standard titanium alloy requirements
in order to improve the ductility and fracture toughness of the alloys.
- A condition
of metal that results in the metal's losing a large quantity of
ductility and/or toughness. Several sources-such as hydrogen pickup
from water vapor, pickling acids and hydrocarbons and liquid metal embrittlement
from liquid cadmium, mercury and silver-cause embrittlement in the
susceptible titanium alloys.
- The number given to
the variety of types of titanium that distinguishes the different qualities
and purities of that titanium and its alloys from those of other types.
Grade 2 is the most common form of pure titanium, while Grade 4 is the
strongest.
- Microstructures that
connect to form titanium. The changing of the size and shape of the grains
through controlled processes results in the enhancement of the mechanical
properties of titanium alloys.
- A particle of foreign
material, such as oxide, sulfide or silicate compounds, embedded within
titanium products. If left unattended, inclusions may cause failure of
the material.
- A widely-used procedure for cutting thin gauge titanium products
to close tolerances.
- The temperature
at which a solid liquefies at standard atmospheric pressure (SAP). The
melting point of titanium is 3,034°F (1667.8°C).
- A process that removes
oxide film from the surface of titanium products through chemical bathing.