Why Would You Employ Alloys Made of Titanium?
Despite being discovered in 1790, titanium wasn’t purified until the early 1900s. Furthermore, it took until the second half of the twentieth century for the metal to become widely used. Yet now that titanium has been used in modern industrial practice and design for about 50 years, its use is supported. A large portion of this use has been for military purposes in gas turbine engines or airplanes like the SR71 (Fig. 1.1). (Fig. 1.2). Golf clubs and bicycles have been used more recently, among other things. Because to its special density, corrosion resistance, and relative strength advantages over rival materials like aluminum, steels, and superalloys, titanium has established a niche in a variety of industries. The following notable facts and/or substantial advantages provided by titanium alloys illustrate the rationale behind titanium’s current widespread use:
• The tensile strength (as an alloy) of titanium can be equivalent to lower-strength martensitic stainless and is better than that of austenitic or ferritic stainless.
• The density of titanium is only around 60% that of steel or nickel-base superalloys.
• The commercial titanium alloys are useful at temperatures up to roughly 538 °C to 595 °C (1000 °F to 1100 °F), depending on composition. Alloys can have ultimate strengths comparable to iron- base superalloys, such as A286, or cobalt- base alloys, such as L606.
Over this temperature, some alloy systems, such as titanium aluminumides, may have useful strengths.
• Although titanium costs around four times as much as stainless steel, they are comparable to superalloys.
• Titanium is remarkably resistant to corrosion.
• In the majority of settings, it frequently outperforms stainless steel’s resistance, and inside the human body, it exhibits exceptional corrosion resistance.
• Titanium can be forged or worked using traditional methods.
• Titanium may be cast, with investment casting being the most popular technique.
(Titanium alloy investment cast structures are less expensive than titanium alloy forged/wrought structures.)
• P/M technology can be used to process titanium.
(Powder may be more expensive, but P/M may offer property and processing improvements in addition to a possibility for overall cost savings.)
• Fusion welding, brazing, adhesives, diffusion bonding, and fasteners are all methods that can be used to unite titanium.
• Titanium is available in a wide range of shapes and forms, is easily formable, and may be machined with reasonable care.
