Titanium

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

Titanium is a rugged, low density and extremely corrosion resistant metal that is nearly 30 percent stronger and 50 percent lighter than steel. The majority of naturally occurring titanium appears lustrous white and is found in a number of materials, primarily ilmenite, leucoxene and rutile. Ilmenite is by far the world’s greatest source of titanium. Pure titanium is referred to as “sponge,” due to its porous, cellular nature. Commercially pure (CP) titanium, although valued for its corrosion resistance, has a much lower strength-to-weight ratio than many modest steels. Therefore, titanium is often alloyed with other elements to provide a material of superior strength and corrosion resistance.

Though quite abundant in the earth’s crust, titanium is an expensive material. Its high cost arises from its refinery, tooling and processing costs. Because titanium is found only in other materials and never in its pure form, it must be extracted. A significant amount of electrical energy and human labor is required to accomplish its purification. Titanium requires specially made forming equipment, as it is a tough metal, whether in its pure form or alloyed with other materials. Titanium must also be heat-treated and annealed in an oxygen-free environment, as it reacts with the gases in the air. Finally, titanium must be annealed several times, especially in thee tube-forming process, because titanium work hardens easily.

Titanium suppliers provide pure materials as well as alloys. Titanium is primarily alloyed with aluminum, molybdenum, iron and manganese, as well as other metals. These titanium alloys are used in applications in which lightweight strength and extreme heat resistance are required, such as in the aerospace industry. Titanium dioxide is used to make soft, man-made gemstones and in paints. This titanium alloy is permanent, provides good coverage and is an excellent reflector of infrared radiation. Titanium tetrachloride is used to iridize glass and to produce smoke screens, as the compound strongly fumes when exposed to air. Titanium has many surgical applications, due to the fact that it is inert in the human body. The greatest use of titanium is in titanium oxide pigments.

Titanium is being used for an ever-widening array of applications in all fields of engineering, but especially in the offshore and marine industries. The material provided by titanium suppliers is highly valued in salt-water environments for its resistance to general, stress and crevice corrosion, its immunity to pitting and galvanic attacks, corrosion fatigue and microbiological corrosion and its superior resistance to erosion corrosion. Because it is such a lightweight material with high strength, titanium is used in the automotive industry for valve springs, rocker arms, connecting rods, exhaust systems, drive shafts, steering gear, etc. Using titanium parts reduces the weight of the vehicle without decreasing its size. Titanium is widely used in medical implants, as it is completely inert and immune to corrosion by all body fluids, making it completely bio-compatible. The range of titanium alloys allows the medical specialists designers to choose materials that closely match the needs of the application. Titanium suppliers provide materials used in the architecture and jewelry industries for its aesthetic properties.

Titanium and Titanium Suppliers Images Provided by Rickard Specialty Metals & Engineering

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 (537ºC), 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 (1667.8ºC).

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