Titan exhibits in Manufacturing Indonesia – 2014

Titan exhibits in Manufacturing Indonesia – 2014, Booth No: D-9108 Hall D2

The 25th International Manufacturing Machinery Equipment, Materials and Services Exhibition is starting on 03 December, 2014 and ending on 06 December, 2014.

The Fair and Exhibition will be hosted at the Jakarta International Expo, Indonesia.

We are delighted to announce that Titan representatives will be participating in the MANUFACTURING INDONESIA 2014 December 2014 trade show.

This year's trade fair will be held from 03 - 06 December 2014, JI Expo, Kemayoran, Jakarta, Indonesia. Our representatives will be manning a stall in Booth No: D-9108 Hall D2.  We’ll exhibit some of our latest titanium metal & alloy products. Come and meet us to learn more about our capabilities and how we can meet your titanium & specialty material needs.

Titan has many customers in Indonesia and we would like to take this opportunity to meet our customers to strengthen our relationship and to further enhance our range of supply.

We would like to invite you to our after work party on every exhibition days at 5:00 pm at the Coffee Area near our stand. We will together celebrate and enjoy with you in MANUFACTURING INDONESIA 2014.

Mark your calendar 03-06 December, 2014.

Visit us for more details. www.titanium.com.sg

Titanium Round Bars. Ground with corner radius.

Lightweight Champion Titanium faces Heavy weight jobs

The twenty first century metal Titanium (Ti) can be found everywhere, from tennis rackets to jet engine parts. Titanium alloys are used in air crafts, armor plates, naval ships, spacecraft, satellites and missiles because of their high tensile strength, light weight, extraordinary corrosion resistance, and ability to withstand extreme temperatures. Welded titanium pipe is used in the chemical industry for its corrosion resistance, and its use is growing in petroleum drilling because of its strength, light weight and corrosion resistance. Titanium alloyed with vanadium is used in the outer skin of aircraft, fire walls, landing gear and hydraulic tubing.

Other uses:

• Due to excellent resistance to sea water,  titanium is used to make propeller shafts and rigging and CP grade titanium tubes are used in the heat ex-changers of desalination plants and in heater-chillers for salt water aquariums.
• Because it is considered to be physiologically inert, titanium is used in joint replacement implants such as hip ball and sockets and to make medical equipment and in pipe/tank lining in food processing. Titanium is also used for surgical instruments.
• Titanium alloys make highly durable and long lasting eye glass frames. Both traditional alloys and shape memory alloys find use in this application.
• Many backpackers use titanium equipment, including cookware, eating utensils, lanterns and tent stakes because titanium products can be significantly lighter without compromising strength.
• Titanium is popular in consumer products such as tennis rackets, golf clubs, bicycles, laboratory equipment and laptop computers.

About 95% of mined and synthetic titanium mineral concentrates was used to make titanium dioxide (TiO2) a pigment used to impart whiteness to paper and inks. Anything you see white is due to use of titanium dioxide. One of the largest producer of titanium dioxide, Huntsman Tioxide (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd is also our regular customer. Titanium is also added in steel alloys to reduce grain size and as a deoxidizer and in stainless steel to reduce carbon content. Titanium is often alloyed with aluminum (to refine grain size), vanadium, copper (to harden), iron, manganese, molybdenum, and other metals.

The quality and composition of all of the materials that go into making these metal blends must be verified. For example, if the titanium used in the manufacture of propeller shafts or other parts designed for underwater use is not alloyed with the right metal for the application, the parts won’t have the needed corrosion resistance. Similarly, titanium must be alloyed with precise amounts of platinum, palladium, or ruthenium to make pipes that can withstand harsh chemical processing environments.

Titan Singapore keeps extensive stock various grades of titanium materials. Drops us email or visit us to know more.

Titanium Gr2 Seamless Heat Ex-changer Tubes

Titanium Jigs for Anodizing & Plating industries.

Any item to be anodized requires reliable jigging. First to stop the components falling to the bottom of the anodizing tank and secondly so that the electrical current can safely pass from the jig to the work pieces. Anodizing jigs are usually made from Aluminum or Titanium. Aluminum jigs get anodized of course and have to be chemically stripped, the constant anodizing and stripping results in a short life and hence the use of Titanium which does not require stripping after the anodizing process.

Titanium is far less conductive than Aluminum so that jig design, always very important, is critical. Contact points and therefore jig marks need to be larger than with Aluminum jigs to avoid contact burns during processing.

Many jigs rely on small sprung fingers gripping the work piece in some way; with hard anodising the favoured way with large pieces especially is to use titanium screws to get a positive reliable contact. It should be remembered that holding work in the process will result in small un-anodised areas and it is unrealistic to expect 100% coating. Jigging can usually be arranged to avoid sensitive areas. This should be borne in mind when designing for corrosion resistance and wear resistance in particular.

Titan Engineering Pte Ltd specialises in supplying complete jigs or titanium materials for making jigs. Our jig materials are custom made order for springiness required in hold the parts

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The Big Head Ache - Corrosion

Metal is notorious for corroding in water applications.  The power packed combination of moisture, oxygen and salt, especially sodium chloride, is more deadly to metal than rust.  It corrodes or eats away at the metal by weakening it and eventually causing it to fall apart.  And if the metal is submerged in a salt water environment than count on your metal corroding five times faster than if it was in fresh water.

Considering we rely on metal in just about every "water-related" application out there, the above statistics sound a bit bleak.  Let's see, we need metal in plumbing, water filtration, sewage plants, hydro-electric power, oil & gas platform parts in the ocean, engine cooling, refrigeration, irrigation and the list goes on and on.  How could the world's economy and infrastructure have survived if metal wasn't used in water applications?  Well, since you and I haven't heard about the world's ongoing struggle to find a metal for water applications that means a solution must have been found.  

Traditionally, steel is not seen as a suitable metal for water applications.  Why?  Remember that moisture is highly corrosive to most metals including steel and zinc. In order to make steel suitable for water applications, there is a process called Hot Dip Galvanizing.  This is where a "layer or protective suit" is metallurgically bonded to the steel.  This bonded layer is a complete, uniform coating that adds strength (approx. 3600 psi) and long term durability to the part. 

However before you go and select Hot Dip Galvanizing Steel (HDGS) as your "go to water metal", beware of some of the disadvantages.  You must know what type of water the part will be submerged in, such as; pure water (distilled or de-ionized water), fresh water, or seawater. Each water environment has different mechanisms that determine the ultimate corrosion rate.  For instance, studies show that HDGS will corrode up to ten times faster in a pure water environment than in a fresh water environment. 

Also, one of the most corrosive areas for HDGS is in Agitated Waters, such as; wash zones and tide lines.  The agitation accelerates the corrosion rate of the zinc.  Often the “washing” motion removes the passive scales which are forming on the surfaces, exposing fresh zinc which tries to redevelop more scales/patina. This leads to rapid erosion of the zinc coating resulting in increased corrosion rates.

So what are the alternatives? 

TITANIUM.

It is amazing how titanium stands out against the "big guys", like Steel and Stainless Steel in certain environments and applications. Even though annual titanium consumption accounts for such a small percentage of all the metal consumed in the world - it is clear that titanium has a major part to play in the Metals Industry.  I am finding that it is a unique, diverse and adaptable underdog.  

I hope you enjoyed the blog and if you have any questions at all please feel free to contact us at sales @ titanium.com.sg or call (+65) 6853 7424 or visit us at www.titanium.com.sg

Until next time...enjoy your week!

Platinum Coated Titanium Anodes

Special chemical & physical properties like high corrosion resistance, thermal conductivity and catalytic nature, platinum is widely used as electrodes in metal finishing industries. Being a very expensive metal, instead of using solid form, platinum is deposited on the surface of titanium or niobium or tantalum, occasionally on molybdenum by micron level layer. Electrodes [Anodes or Cathodes] are available with hanging hook, frame or band; in the form of sheet, mesh, pipe, wire, rod and custom built. Platinised titanium anode is used in electrolytes having no fluoride. Platinised niobium anodes are used in electrolytes having fluoride, where we need better conduction (its conductivity is three times of titanium) & also it is suitable for Sulphuric acid chromium plating bath operated at current density greater than 75A / dm².
Common Laboratory Beaker anodes are used for Laboratory Plating tests, small batch plating, electrochemical production of organic, inorganic and many other compounds. The common beakers are available in the sizes of 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 & 5.0 liters by volume. Standard Platinized Titanium Anodes [PTA] and Platinized Niobium Anodes [PNA] are available for said glass beakers. Anodes are available in the form of expanded mesh with hook, strips with hook and tube for some special applications. Platinised anodes are available with the standard platinum plating layer thickness of 2.5 micron. Plating thick can be increased up to 20 micron depending to the customer’s requirement. PTA anodes are used for the production of chlorates and perchlorate and in plating bath as insoluble anodes. 

Platinised titanium, niobium and tantalum anodes are having the advantages of Low weight because of low surace area due to the high current density - good current resistance; Long life operation - maintenance free; Economical - due to low platinum requirements; High dimensional stability and low resistance; highly suitable as auxiliary anodes of complex geometrical shapes.

Few of its applications are…

• Metal finishing
• Beaker anodes
• Electroforming
• Cathodic protection
• Electrochemical sensing
• Electro winning
• Metal refining
• Electrolytic regeneration of chromic acid
• Electroplating for precious and base metals
• Electrolytic production of sodium hypochlorite
• Electro synthesis of Inorganic and organic chemicals
• Especially production of perchlorates

Visit our site www.titanium.com.sg to know more about platinized titanium, MMO Anodes and titanium materials.

Analyzing Metals - Gold

The livelihood of businesses that buy and recycle gold, such as jewelry stores and pawn shops, depends in part on being able to identify fake gold and to determine the accurate karat (K) weight of gold jewelry. With the volatility and high price of gold, failing to detect just a small variation in composition can be an expensive mistake. Even the seemingly simple task of distinguishing between gold plating and solid gold can be a challenge as counterfeiters become more adept.

Gold plated means that the jewelry is made with a layer of gold on the surface over another type of metal underneath. The most common identifying marks on gold plate are HGE (gold electroplate) and RGP (rolled gold plate), but not all gold-plated jewelry has such a stamp. High-quality gold plate can be thick enough to pass nitric acid scratch test, which only tests the surface layer. A deeper cut to the piece may yield more information about its content but will also damage it.

Other verification methods include weighing the jewelry in question against a known gold piece, or submerging the piece in water and measuring the displacement. Gold jewelry can be examined with a loupe to check for different colors under worn areas. Many jewelers also test with a strong magnet, as real gold isn’t magnetic.

Jewelers and pawn brokers that fail to verify the gold that comes into their shops using at least a couple of methods will fall prey to increasingly sophisticated counterfeiters who know how to get around these tests. Recent news stories describe scams involving jewelry made with non-magnetic metals that mimic gold, fakes plated with enough gold so as to appear to be all gold, or gold-plated or copper counterfeits stamped 14K or 18K.

“The fakes are getting better,” says one pawn shop owner. “They’re beating the magnet test, the weight test. Nowadays, gold needs to be tested several ways, including scratch testing or cutting into the metal, even if it means ruining the piece. Unfortunately, most of my customers intend to reclaim their jewelry and don’t want it damaged.”

To be absolutely certain of the composition of gold and other precious metals, many businesses are now turning to X-ray fluorescence (XRF) technology.  XRF analyzers provide a fast, accurate, and most importantly, a nondestructive method to test the purity and composition of all precious metals. XRF quickly provides the exact karat weight and percentages of all elements within an item – easily identifying non-standard, under-karated, and even advanced counterfeit material that acid testing is incapable of differentiating.  What’s more, some XRF instruments feature technology that can identify gold-plated items that, undetected, could adversely affect the profitability of your business. This functionality not only protects your interests but those of your clients, who can see for themselves the exact percentage of pure gold in their jewelry.

XRF analysis also can work in tandem with traditional testing to identify more heavily gold-plated items. When readings taken with an XRF analyzer on four or five different areas on a piece show differing results, this can be an indication that the item is heavily plated and further testing is warranted.  This would mean filing or drilling into the item to expose material beneath the surface layer.

Visit our website www.titanium.com.sg for more info about titanium metals, MMO Anodes and Platinum coated titanium anodes.

Titanium metal composition testing 

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