T I T A N I U M — T h e I n f i n i t e C h o i c e

Titanium—A Global Material of Choice

Titanium in the 21st century has emerged as a high-performance metal specified for demanding industrial, medical and commercial applications throughout the world. A wide spectrum of applications verify titanium’s strong global profile: aerospace
engine components and structural components built in North America and Europe; desalination systems in the Middle East; modern, high-profile architectural structures in Asia; off shore oil and gas exploration throughout the world; and an array of chemical processing and infrastructure projects in all major international markets.

Superior Properties:

There are four related reasons why engineers, purchasing managers, fabricators in global markets specify the use of titanium and its alloys to address their design, performance
and financial challenges.

Maximum Performance:

Many items, such as jet engine fan blades and medical/dental implants, simply perform best when they are manufactured from titanium, due to the metal’s unique combination of superior mechanical, corrosion resistance and physical properties.

Performance-to-Cost Value:

Titanium can enhance performance so dramatically it’s worth a higher cost, compared with other metals. For example, recreational products like golf clubs off er a playing experience that’s worth a higher price. In automotive applications, titanium connecting rods can save enough weight to improve performance without adding a costly turbocharger.

Life Cycle Cost:

In demanding global applications such as heat exchangers, chemical processing systems and marine environments, the initial higher cost of titanium pipe, fittings and tubing can be regained several fold by the savings that result from the metal’s long (many times unlimited) life and a corresponding reduction in
equipment maintenance and down time.

Titan Engineering Pte Ltd, Singapore

http://www.titanium.com.sg

Titanium metal saves sportsmen heads!

When an incredibly strong and light weight part is required then titanium metal is a product that will fit the bill. Titanium Alloy is as strong as steel metal, it has a low density and it has the additional benefit of not being a metal that suffers from corrosion. It is becoming the metal that a variety of industries are turning to as they carry out research and develop new items. It is used in many hospitals around the world, where it is used as parts for replacement knee joints.

It has also been used to help the heads of sportsmen as it is used to create the grill that cricketers have on their helmets. Clearly the players’ and manufacturers are confident that titanium grill on helmets will stand up to being hit by a ball bowled at around 90-100 miles an hour. Purchasers in the aerospace industry are happy as well to buy titanium for their products.  Check @ www.titanium.com.sg

Titanium is available various forms like bars, plates, tubes and sheet pipes and there are many titanium suppliers, meaning that when placing an order it is possible to find somewhere not too far away to supply it. Singapore's No.1 Titanium Metal Supplier, Titan keep lot of ready stock in round bar as well as sheet forms.  If we do not have it in the form you are looking for, then they will be able to source it for you.There are a number of things to consider when you are looking to make a purchase as there can be cost implications from making bad decisions.

If you have been able to win a contract that will ensure you need to buy titanium alloy or any other form of the product, you will be in a position to negotiate a good price for yourself from Titan Singapore. As long as you honor the level of trade that you say you will carry out with us, you will get the items at a price that will allow you to either make an additional profit, or share the savings made with your customer. By choosing Titan Engineering as your metal supplier, you can be dealing with one of the bigger players in the market and you will benefit from their ability to negotiate great prices and apply advantageous discounts.

If you don’t have to be concerned with the amount you are paying for your materials, then you will be able to spend more time looking for customers or perfecting the items you supply. You will get a price in around 15 minutes, providing it is a general item and is held in stock. Titan Singapore is a popular supplier of titanium materials in Singapore, Malaysia & Indonesia. Just give us a call at +65-68537424 or send us an enquiry from www.titanium.com.sg. 

Why Titanium metal turns blue after wire-cut process?

At Titan Engineering - Singapore, we do a fair amount of titanium metal plates by wire-cut machine and the appearance is important to all our customers. It is usual that the surface will become blue in color after wire-cut machining. The bluing does not go very deep into the material and can be mostly removed by polishing with a scrub pad. Polishing does cause the recast layer to go a little deeper but not deep enough to affect the material.

Wire-cut bluing of titanium is often mistaken for thermal damage, but the coloration you sometimes see at the edges of a wire-cut titanium surface is actually nothing but anodic oxidation created by the field of electrical current around the wire electrode during wire cutting. This ionized field produces a thin, and transparent oxide film on the top and bottom surfaces adjacent to the wire path. This oxide can be in the atomic range to several hundred nano meters thick. The colors produced in this manner have no pigments, dies or chemicals in them and are known as interference colors.

Interference colors are created when light strikes an oxidized surface. Part of the light is reflected and part of it passes through the oxide film to be reflected off the metal surface beneath it. As the light bounces back and passes through the oxide layer, it is slowed or interfered with, hence its name. This interference creates a color similar to the way a prism bends white light and breaks it into colors depending upon the angle. Every color in the rainbow can be achieved by this effect with the thickness of the oxide film (amount of interference) determining the color. Like anodizing, voltages, current density, water chemistry and pH can all affect the colors produced. The visible oxide colors that WEDM current typically generates are mostly in the blue and red spectrums, being a definite blue along the wire path and often fading to a tinge of red on the outer edges of the discoloration.

Being aware of all this may sound rather obscure, but we actually had to learn about this out of necessity. In a galaxy far, far away, in another lifetime when we had our shop (pre-AC generators and AE technology), we had to explain what the bluing was to many a freaked-out know all aerospace engineer, who upon seeing a WEDM'ed titanium part for the first time, would mistakenly think we had somehow "thermally damaged" the cut surfaces of his part to a depth of 2mm and it was now expensive scrap and started to jump up and down. <-- Engineer's reaction, Seriously.

This may sound amusing today, but if we weren't able to explain bluing to the at-that time to those EDM-paranoid engineers, we would have never received another titanium job from any of them. After this incident, we quickly learned to buff the top and bottom surfaces a bit to camouflage the bluing and eliminate any frantic questions or arguing for another titanium job. 

As a side note, this color proves that your material is real titanium, as no other material turns blue after wire-cut. Happy Wire-cutting Titanium, with blue. :)

Titanium Metal & Alloy Supplier - Singapore

Machining Tips for Titanium Metal & Alloys.

Machining Titanium:

Titan Engineering Pte Ltd Singapore offer the following technical information on the machinability of Titanium. This information is derived from the ASTM Technical guide to Titanium and should be used for reference knowledge only.

Introduction:

Titanium can be economically machined on a routine production basis if shop procedures are set up to allow for the physical characteristics common to the metal.  The factors which must be given consideration are not complex, but they are vital to successful handling of titanium.

Most important is that different grades of titanium, i.e., commercially pure titanium and various titanium alloys, will not all have identical machining characteristics, any more than all steels, or all aluminum grades have identical characteristics.  Like stainless steel, the low thermal conductivity of titanium inhibits dissipation of heat within the workplace itself, thus requiring proper application of coolants.

Generally, good tool life and work quality can be assured by rigid machine set-ups, use of a good coolant, sharp and proper tools, slower speeds, and heavier feeds.  Use of sharp tools is vital, because dull tools will accentuate heat build-up, to cause undue galling and seizing, leading to premature tool failure.

The machinability of commercially pure grades or titanium has been compared by veteran shop men to that of 18-8 stainless steel, with the alloy grades being somewhat harder to machine.  

Characteristics Influencing Machinability.

The fact that titanium sometimes is classified as difficult to machine by traditional methods in part can be explained by the physical, chemical, and mechanical properties of the metal. For example:

Titanium is a poor conductor of heat. Heat, generated by the cutting action, does not dissipate quickly.  Therefore, most of the heat is concentrated on the cutting edge and the tool face.

Titanium has a strong alloying tendency or chemical reactivity with materials in the cutting tools at tool operating temperatures. This causes galling, welding, and smearing along with rapid destruction of the cutting tool.

Titanium has a relatively low modulus of elasticity, thereby having more “springiness” than steel. Work has a tendency to move away from the cutting tool unless heavy cuts are maintained or proper backup is employed.  Slender parts tend to deflect under tool pressures, causing chatter, tool rubbing, and tolerance problems.  Rigidity of the entire system is consequently very important, as is the use of sharp, properly shaped cutting tools.

Titanium’s fatigue properties are strongly influenced by a tendency to surface damage if certain machining techniques are used. Care must be exercised to avoid the loss of surface integrity, especially during grinding.

Titanium’s work-hardening characteristics are such that titanium alloys demonstrate a complete absence of built-up edge. Because of the lack of a stationary mass of metal (built-up edge) ahead of the cutting tool, a high shearing angle is formed. This causes a thin chip to contact a relatively small area on the cutting tool face and results in high bearing loads per unit area. The high bearing force, combined with the friction developed by the chip as it rushes over the bearing area, results in a great increase in heat on a very localized portion of the cutting tool. Furthermore, the combination of high bearing forces and heat produces cratering action close to the cutting edge, resulting in rapid tool breakdown.

 With respect to titanium’s fatigue properties, briefly noted in the above list, the following details are of interest.

As stated, loss of surface integrity must be avoided. If this precaution is not observed, a dramatic loss of mechanical behavior (such as fatigue) can result. Even proper grinding practices using conventional parameters (wheel speed, downfeed, etc.) may result in appreciably lower fatigue strength due to surface damage.  The basic fatigue properties of many titanium alloys rely on a favorable compressive surface stress induced by tool action during machining. Electro-mechanical removal of material, producing a stress-free surface, can cause a debit from the customary design fatigue strength properties. (These results are similar when mechanical processes such as grinding are involved, although the reasons are different.) 

For further information, please contact Titan Engineering Pte Ltd, Singapore.