Titanium - Properties - Price - Applications

About Titanium

Titanium is a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength. Titanium is resistant to corrosion in sea water, aqua regia, and chlorine. Titanium can be used in surface condensers. These condensers use tubes that are usually made of stainless steel, copper alloys, or titanium depending on several selection criteria (such as thermal conductivity or corrosion resistance). Titanium condenser tubes are usually the best technical choice, however titanium is very expensive material and the use of titanium condenser tubes is associated with very high initial costs.

Summary

Element	Titanium
Atomic number	22
Element category	Transition Metal
Phase at STP	Solid
Density	4.507 g/cm3
Ultimate Tensile Strength	434 MPa, 293 MPa (pure)
Yield Strength	380 MPa
Young’s Modulus of Elasticity	116 GPa
Mohs Scale	6
Brinell Hardness	700 – 2700 MPa
Vickers Hardness	800 – 3400 MPa
Melting Point	1668 °C
Boiling Point	3287 °C
Thermal Conductivity	21.9 W/mK
Thermal Expansion Coefficient	8.6 µm/mK
Specific Heat	0.52 J/g K
Heat of Fusion	15.45 kJ/mol
Heat of Vaporization	421 kJ/mol
Electrical resistivity [nanoOhm meter]	420
Magnetic Susceptibility	+153e-6 cm^3/mol

Applications of Titanium

The two most useful properties of the metal are corrosion resistance and strength-to-density ratio, the highest of any metallic element. The corrosion resistance of titanium alloys at normal temperatures is unusually high. These properties determine application of titanium and its alloys. The earliest production application of titanium was in 1952, for the nacelles and firewalls of the Douglas DC-7 airliner. High specific strength, good fatigue resistance and creep life, and good fracture toughness are characteristics that make titanium a preferred metal for aerospace applications. Aerospace applications, including use in both structural (airframe) components and jet engines, still account for the largest share of titanium alloy use. On the supersonic aircraft SR-71, titanium was used for 85% of the structure. Due to very high inertness, titanium has many biomedical applications, which is based on its inertness in the human body, that is, resistance to corrosion by body fluids.

Production and Price of Titanium

Raw materials prices change daily. They are primarily driven by supply, demand and energy prices. In 2019, prices of pure Titanium were at around 61 $/kg.

The metal is extracted from its principal mineral ores by the Kroll and Hunter processes. Kroll’s process involved reduction of titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4), first with sodium and calcium, and later with magnesium, under an inert gas atmosphere. Pure titanium is stronger than common, low-carbon steels, but 45% lighter. It is also twice as strong as weak aluminium alloys but only 60% heavier.

Source: www.luciteria.com

Mechanical Properties of Titanium

Strength of Titanium

In mechanics of materials, the strength of a material is its ability to withstand an applied load without failure or plastic deformation. Strength of materials basically considers the relationship between the external loads applied to a material and the resulting deformation or change in material dimensions. In designing structures and machines, it is important to consider these factors, in order that the material selected will have adequate strength to resist applied loads or forces and retain its original shape. Strength of a material is its ability to withstand this applied load without failure or plastic deformation.

For tensile stress, the capacity of a material or structure to withstand loads tending to elongate is known as ultimate tensile strength (UTS). Yield strength or yield stress is the material property defined as the stress at which a material begins to deform plastically whereas yield point is the point where nonlinear (elastic + plastic) deformation begins.

Ultimate Tensile Strength of Titanium

Ultimate tensile strength of Titanium is 434 MPa, 293 MPa (pure).

Yield Strength of Titanium

Yield strength of Titanium is 380 MPa.

Modulus of Elasticity of Titanium

The Young’s modulus of elasticity of Titanium is 116 GPa.

Hardness of Titanium

In materials science, hardness is the ability to withstand surface indentation (localized plastic deformation) and scratching. Brinell hardness test is one of indentation hardness tests, that has been developed for hardness testing. In Brinell tests, a hard, spherical indenter is forced under a specific load into the surface of the metal to be tested.

Brinell hardness of Titanium is approximately 700 – 2700 MPa.

The Vickers hardness test method was developed by Robert L. Smith and George E. Sandland at Vickers Ltd as an alternative to the Brinell method to measure the hardness of materials. The Vickers hardness test method can be also used as a microhardness test method, which is mostly used for small parts, thin sections, or case depth work.

Vickers hardness of Titanium is approximately 800 – 3400 MPa.

Scratch hardness is the measure of how resistant a sample is to permanent plastic deformation due to friction from a sharp object. The most common scale for this qualitative test is Mohs scale, which is used in mineralogy. The Mohs scale of mineral hardness is based on the ability of one natural sample of mineral to scratch another mineral visibly.

Titanium is has a hardness of approximately 6.

Titanium – Crystal Structure

A possible crystal structure of Titanium is hexagonal close-packed structure.

In metals, and in many other solids, the atoms are arranged in regular arrays called crystals. A crystal lattice is a repeating pattern of mathematical points that extends throughout space. The forces of chemical bonding causes this repetition. It is this repeated pattern which control properties like strength, ductility, density, conductivity (property of conducting or transmitting heat, electricity, etc.), and shape. There are 14 general types of such patterns known as Bravais lattices.

Crystal Structure of Titanium

Strength of Elements

Elasticity of Elements

Hardness of Elements

Thermal Properties of Titanium

Titanium – Melting Point and Boiling Point

Melting point of Titanium is 1668°C.

Boiling point of Titanium is 3287°C.

Note that, these points are associated with the standard atmospheric pressure.

Titanium – Thermal Conductivity

Thermal conductivity of Titanium is 21.9 W/(m·K).

The heat transfer characteristics of a solid material are measured by a property called the thermal conductivity, k (or λ), measured in W/m.K. It is a measure of a substance’s ability to transfer heat through a material by conduction. Note that Fourier’s law applies for all matter, regardless of its state (solid, liquid, or gas), therefore, it is also defined for liquids and gases.

Coefficient of Thermal Expansion of Titanium

Linear thermal expansion coefficient of Titanium is 8.6 µm/(m·K)

Thermal expansion is generally the tendency of matter to change its dimensions in response to a change in temperature. It is usually expressed as a fractional change in length or volume per unit temperature change.

Titanium – Specific Heat, Latent Heat of Fusion, Latent Heat of Vaporization

Specific heat of Titanium is 0.52 J/g K.

Heat capacity is an extensive property of matter, meaning it is proportional to the size of the system. Heat capacity C has the unit of energy per degree or energy per kelvin. When expressing the same phenomenon as an intensive property, the heat capacity is divided by the amount of substance, mass, or volume, thus the quantity is independent of the size or extent of the sample.

Latent Heat of Fusion of Titanium is 15.45 kJ/mol.

Latent Heat of Vaporization of Titanium is 421 kJ/mol.

Latent heat is the amount of heat added to or removed from a substance to produce a change in phase. This energy breaks down the intermolecular attractive forces, and also must provide the energy necessary to expand the gas (the pΔV work). When latent heat is added, no temperature change occurs. The enthalpy of vaporization is a function of the pressure at which that transformation takes place.

Melting Point of Elements

Thermal Conductivity of Elements

Thermal Expansion of Elements

Heat Capacity of Elements

Heat of Fusion of Elements

Heat of Vaporization of Elements

Titanium – Electrical Resistivity – Magnetic Susceptibility

Electrical property refers to the response of a material to an applied electric field. One of the principal characteristics of materials is their ability (or lack of ability) to conduct electrical current. Indeed, materials are classified by this property, that is, they are divided into conductors, semiconductors, and nonconductors.

Electrical Resistivity of Titanium

Electrical resistivity of Titanium is 420 nΩ⋅m.

Electrical conductivity and its converse, electrical resistivity, is a fundamental property of a material that quantifies how Titanium conducts the flow of electric current. Electrical conductivity or specific conductance is the reciprocal of electrical resistivity.

Magnetic Susceptibility of Titanium

Magnetic susceptibility of Titanium is +153e-6 cm^3/mol.

In electromagnetism, magnetic susceptibility is the measure of the magnetization of a substance. Magnetic susceptibility is a dimensionless proportionality factor that indicates the degree of magnetization of Titanium in response to an applied magnetic field.