Titanium Alloy Uses

Titanium alloy has high strength and low density, good mechanical properties, toughness and corrosion resistance is very good. In addition, titanium alloys have poor process performance, cutting and processing difficulties, in thermal processing, very easy to absorb impurities such as hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and carbon. There is also poor abrasion resistance, the production process is complex. The industrial production of titanium was started in 1948. The need for the development of the aviation industry, so that the titanium industry to an average annual growth rate of about 8% development. At present, the world's annual output of titanium alloy processing materials has reached more than 40,000 tonnes, titanium alloy grade nearly 30 kinds. The most widely used titanium alloy is Ti-6Al-4V (TC4), Ti-5Al-2.5Sn (TA7) and industrial pure titanium (TA1, TA2 and TA3).
Titanium alloys are mainly used to make aircraft engine compressor parts, followed by structural parts for rockets, missiles and high-speed aircraft.In the mid-1960s, titanium and its alloys have been used in general industrial applications to make electrodes for the electrolysis industry, condensers for power stations, heaters for petroleum refineries and seawater desalination as well as environmental pollution control devices. Titanium and its alloys have become a corrosion-resistant structural material. It is also used to produce hydrogen storage materials and shape memory alloys.
China began research on titanium and titanium alloys in 1956; industrial production of titanium began in the mid-1960s and TB2 alloy was developed.

Titanium alloy is a new important structural material used in the aerospace industry, the specific gravity, strength and use of temperature between aluminium and steel, but higher than the strength and has excellent resistance to seawater corrosion and ultra-low-temperature performance. 1950 U.S. for the first time in the F-84 fighter-bomber used as a rear fuselage heat shield, windscreen, the tail cowl, and other non-bearing components. 60s the beginning of the titanium alloy parts from the rear fuselage to move to the middle fuselage, part of the tail cowl. The use of titanium alloy moved to the middle fuselage, partially replacing structural steel to manufacture important load-bearing components such as spacer frames, beams, flap slides and so on. The use of titanium alloy in military aircraft increased rapidly, reaching 20% to 25% of the weight of the aircraft structure. 70's, civil aircraft began to use titanium alloy in large quantities, such as the Boeing 747 airliner with titanium amounted to more than 3,640 kg. Mach number less than 2.5 aircraft with titanium is mainly to replace steel to reduce structural weight. Another example, the United States SR-71 high-altitude high-speed reconnaissance aircraft (flight Mach 3, flight altitude of 26,212 metres), titanium accounted for 93% of the weight of the structure of the aircraft, known as "all titanium" aircraft. When the aero-engine thrust-to-weight ratio from 4 ~ 6 to 8 ~ 10, the pressurised gas outlet temperature correspondingly from 200 ~ 300 ° C to 500 ~ 600 ° C, the original aluminium manufacturing of low-pressure pressurised gas discs and blades must be changed to titanium alloys, or titanium alloys instead of stainless steel manufacturing of high-pressure pressurised gas discs and blades, in order to reduce the weight of the structure. 70's, titanium alloys in the aero-engine dosage Generally accounted for 20% to 30% of the total weight of the structure, mainly used in the manufacture of pressurised parts, such as forged titanium fans, pressurised discs and blades, cast titanium pressurised magazines, intermediary magazines, bearing housings and so on. Spacecraft mainly use titanium alloys of high strength, corrosion resistance and low temperature resistance to manufacture a variety of pressure vessels, fuel storage tanks, fasteners, instrument straps, frames and rocket shells. Artificial Earth satellites, moon landing module, manned spacecraft and space shuttles also use titanium alloy plate weldments.