Titanium

About Titanium and Titanium Suppliers Including Titanium Manufacturers, Titanium Plate, Titanium Sheet, Titanium Tubing & Titanium Wire.

Titanium is being used for an ever-widening array of applications in many fields. 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, steering gears and others. 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.

Titanium's usefulness in specific industrial fields is due to the fact that is a low density & extremely corrosion resistant metal, as strong as steel but half the weight per volume. 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). Unlike many other metals, at room temperature titanium has a low reaction to oxygen, acids, chlorine gas & salts; this property keeps titanium from corroding, rusting, tarnishing or weakening under conditions in which steel, copper or bronze would almost certainly do so. Titanium, a naturally occurring element, is also rendered inert in the human body; that is, the human body has a completely neutral reaction to the presence of titanium, which makes titanium a perfect material for surgical, medical and dental instruments and inserts. Another of titanium's favored properties is its low weight-to-volume ratio which, combined with its strength and ductility, make it an ideal metal for aerospace and automotive industries.

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 titanium 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.

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. Once processed into an ore in plates or sheeting, titanium is relatively easy to fabricate and extremely useful, which is why many industries choose it even at a higher cost, continually researching new possible uses for titanium.

Other uses for titanium, titanium oxide and titanium alloys include semiconductor and battery wires, chemical and petroleum handling, agri-food, orthopedics, sporting goods equipment, paint, toothpaste, paper, plastics, cement, jewelry and gem fabrication. Once processed into an ore, titanium is relatively easy to fabricate and extremely useful, which is why many industries choose titanium even at a higher cost, continually researching new possible uses for titanium.

Types of Titanium

• 6Al-4V, the most common titanium alloy, is composed of 90% titanium, six percent aluminum and four percent vanadium.
  
• Aerospace metals, including aluminum beryllium, nickel-based superalloys and titanium, have basic metal properties that are enhanced by key elemental alloying additions.
  
• Ferro-titanium 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.
  
• High temperature alloys 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.
  
• Super alloys have superior strength and corrosion resistance under high temperatures. Superalloys are used in applications such as jet engine components, valves and gas turbines.
  
• Titanium bars 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.
  
• Titanium billets 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.
  
• Titanium bolts 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.
  
• Titanium castings 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.
  
• Titanium ingots 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.
  
• Titanium manufacturers provide various titanium products to many industries.
• Titanium pipe 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.
  
• Titanium plates are widely used in the medical industry to correct skull defects or repair fracturing of the skull.
  
• Titanium rods have a superior strength-to-mass ratio. Titanium rods, if well-designed, are about 20% lighter than comparable steel rods.
  
• Titanium sheet is a thin, flat piece of titanium.
• Titanium sponge is pure titanium, which has a porous cellular form.
  
• Titanium tubes 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.
  
• Titanium wire 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

Alloy - A uniform mixture or solid solution of at least two metals. Titanium is most often acquired as an alloy.

Alpha Case - 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.

Anodize - 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.

Blasting - 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.

Chromium - An alloying element that is used in several titanium alloys. Chromium typically has an alloying weight percentage range of 2-12%.

Density - 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.

ELI (Extra Low Interstitials) - 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.

Embrittlement - 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.

Grade - 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.

Grains - 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.

Inclusion - 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.

Laser Cutting - A widely-used procedure for cutting thin gauge titanium products to close tolerances.

Melting Point - The temperature at which a solid liquefies at standard atmospheric pressure (SAP). The melting point of titanium is 3,034°F (1667.8°C).

Pickling - A process that removes oxide film from the surface of titanium products through chemical bathing.