Titanium metal fabrication: the titan of metal
Titanium fabrication is one of our most important services in terms of value-added processes. At Special Metals, as quality Titanium stockists, it’s easy for us to see why the metal is so popular with our customers – but let us tell you a little more about it and its history.
According to Greek mythology, the Titans existed before the Olympian Gods. Renowned for their natural strength, in Ancient Greece the word Titans was used to describe the creation of the world and Titans were highly worshipped. As time passed by, the word titan came to describe someone who is powerful, God-like and influential in their field.
So, when this strong and durable metal element was discovered in the 18th century, the name Titanium evolved.
A long time in the making
Although analysis following the initial discovery suggested just how strong the metal would be and there was a lot of excitement surrounding its potential, over a hundred years passed before pure Titanium was produced. And it was 1938 before its widespread use became a possibility. This was when William Kroll developed the Kroll Process – still widely used today (although now combined with vacuum distillation), the process used magnesium as the reducing agent.
Immune to corrosion, non-magnetic, and with a high tensile strength to density ratio (in laymen’s terms, that means it is lightweight but strong) Titanium is certainly one of the greats when it comes to metals.
Choosing Titanium: the life costing approach
Titanium ore is a fairly abundant element (in fact it is the ninth most abundant element in the Earth’s crust!), but it has high reactivity levels with some of the elemental gases including oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen. This means that Titanium mining, milling, and Titanium fabrication processes are complex and costly, so Titanium can cost more than alternative metals.
However, many savvy Specifiers adopt a life costing approach. So, rather than opting for a cheaper metal – which may have a shorter lifespan or require more frequent repair work – they factor in the long-term corrosion resistance, reliability, weight savings and durability.
In many sectors, this approach to costing a project often makes Titanium the obvious metal of choice for fabrication projects, as many of its properties simply cannot be beaten and the cost often balances out over time due to its durability.
Titanium fabrication is popular in industries including aerospace, industrial, automotive, medical, defence, oil and gas – indeed some of the largest and most important sectors rely on Titanium.
As one of the leading Titanium suppliers in the UK, we have many happy customers who have chosen Titanium for multiple products and projects over many years and have always been pleased with their choice.
Titanium fabrication at Special Metals
Here at Special Metals, our highly skilled metal fabrication team is very adept at working with Titanium – we can provide standard components or we can transform it into metal parts to your specification and requirements – no matter what the shape or size.
In the event that Titanium isn’t right for your project as you are looking for a metal with different properties, we also offer Molybdenum fabrication, Tungsten fabrication, Tantalum fabrication, Zirconium fabrication and Niobium fabrication.
If a closer look at Titanium has given you food for thought as to why you should consider using it for your next metal fabrication project, why not get in touch to discuss the possibility further? You can call us on 01268 820409 or email sales@special-metal.co.uk.
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