Titanium & Titanium Alloys
Commercially pure titanium and Ti6Al4V: top performance only under perfect
AI generated Titanium combines low weight with enormous strength and corrosion resistance – the material for aerospace, medical technology, and chemical plants. When , titanium is merciless: above 400 °C it reacts with oxygen and nitrogen and becomes brittle. Cleanliness and complete protection are everything.
is the material when you need strength at minimal weight – aircraft construction, turbines, implants, chemical vessels. It's as strong as some steels but only half as heavy, and it practically doesn't rust. The price: titanium is expensive, and it's absolutely uncompromising when .
You distinguish (Grades 1 to 4, increasing strength and less formability) from the alloys. The star among them is Ti6Al4V (Grade 5), an with aluminum and , which carries the bulk of aerospace applications. There are also alpha, beta, and alpha-beta alloys, each with its own behavior.
The all-important property when : titanium is extremely reactive at high temperatures. From about 400 °C, it eagerly picks up oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen from the air. The result is a brittle, cracked weld – and you see it immediately in the . Gold-yellow is just about okay, blue is concerning, gray-white means: the weld is scrap. That's why the iron rule applies: the weld area must be completely under not only on the front side but also at the root until it has cooled below 400 °C. If you weld titanium "open" like steel, you've lost.
Practically, this means: with DC, electrode negative, a large gas nozzle setup or better a trailing gas shield, plus from behind. The work area must be clean – a dedicated set of stainless steel brushes only for titanium, gloves, no grease, no dust, no weld spatter from the neighboring bay. Titanium forgives nothing.
Add to that : titanium expands little, but the high strength at low cross-section means thin sheets, and thin sheets like to distort. Counteract with tack welds and clamping fixtures.