The aerospace industry is the single largest market for titanium products primarily due to the exceptional strength to weight ratio, elevated temperature performance and corrosion resistance. Titanium applications are most significant in jet engine and airframe components that are subject to temperatures up to 1100° F and for other critical structural parts. Usage is widespread in most commercial and military aircraft. Titanium is also used in spacecraft where the many benefits of titanium are effectively utilized.

As new titanium products, alloys and manufacturing methods are employed by the aircraft industry, the use of titanium will expand. Today the use of precision castings and new alloys such as and Ti-3AL8V-6Cr-4Zr-4Mo are making it possible for titanium to displace alternate, less efficient structural materials in a wide spectrum of aerospace applications.

Lockheed engineers stated that while only titanium and steel had the ability to withstand the operating temperatures encountered, aged Ti-13V-11 Cr-3AL titanium weighed one-half as much as stainless steel per cubic inch and its ultimate strength was about equal to stainless. Using "conventional" fabrication techniques, fewer parts were needed with Ti-13V-11 Cr-3AL than with steel.

Engines: The largest single use of titanium is in the aircraft gas turbine engine. In most modern jet engines, titanium-based alloy parts make up 20% to 30% of the dry weight, primarily in the compressor. Applications include blades, discs or hubs, inlet guide vanes and cases. Titanium is most commonly the material of choice for engine parts that operate up to 1100°F (593°C.).

Airframes: Titanium alloys effectively compete with aluminum, nickel and ferrous alloys in both commercial and military airframes.

Applications run the gamut of airframe structural members; from massive, highly stressed, forged wing structures, and landing gear components, to small critical fasteners, springs, and hydraulic tubing.

Selection of titanium in both airframes and engines is based upon titanium's basic attributes; weight reduction due to high strength to weight ratios coupled with exemplary reliability in service, attributable to outstanding corrosion resistance compared to alternate structural metals.

F-22 Raptor

Space structures starting with the extensive use of titanium in the early Mercury and Apollo space craft, titanium alloys continue to be widely used in military and NASA space applications. In addition to manned space craft, titanium alloys are extensively employed in solid rocket booster cases, guidance control pressure vessels and a wide variety of applications demanding light weight and reliability.

Thick Section Titanium or Heavy Section size is generally defined as forged or rolled thickness that exceeds four inches. Titanium alloys have been successfully used for heavy sections thickness, in both airframe parts, and in rotating components such as heavy section fan disks for PWA and G.E. high bypass jet engines, and Sikorsky helicopter rotor forgings.

The primary alloys that have been involved are Ti-6AL-4V, in the annealed or STOA (Solution Treated and Overaged) condition; the near-beta Ti-17 (Ti-5AL2Sn-2Zr-4Mo-4Cr), Ti-10V-2Fe-3AL and the Ti-6AL-2Sn-4Zr-6Mo compositions in the STA (Solution Treated Aged) condition; and the beta alloys Ti-13V-11 Cr-3AL and Ti-3AL-8V-6Cr-4Mo-4Zr, also in the STA condition. Certainly the most extensive heavy section applications in one project to date featured the Ti-1 3V-11 Cr3AL alloy in the SR-71 Blackbird (fuselage frames, wing beams and landing gears).

For a given process and heat treatment condition, titanium alloys such as these demonstrate superior fatigue and fracture toughness properties, not only in the absolute sense, but also from the standpoint of uniformity throughout the heavy section thickness, and as the section thickness increases from 4" to 6", or even to 8". Titanium alloys offer a useful and, in many cases, superior alternative to steel alloys for heavy section application.

Titanium Industries, Inc.' Regional Service Centers maintain one of the world's largest inventories of titanium mill products for the aircraft industry. Both alloy and commercially pure aircraft grades are readily available in bar, billet, sheet, plate and wire. Specialty products such as rings and other forged shapes can be supplied to especially close tolerances as required by our customers from our network of Service Centers dedicated solely to titanium. Titanium Industries has major stocking locations, placed strategically in California, Massachusetts, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio and Canada to ensure our customers a full range of material, the best quality products and a rapid turn-around. All materials are fully certified to AMS, MIL-T and other aerospace customer specifications.

We are a one stop Titanium Metal Service Center. At Titanium Industries, Inc. we are specialists in titanium, backed by thirty years of experience with the capabilities for first stage processing, including saw cutting, shearing, plate burning, and custom applications and development services.

Our products are fully certified to all aerospace specifications and are 100% traceable from mill processing through melt source. All material is accompanied by complete test reports of chemical and mechanical properties.

We are dedicated to the advancement of titanium in the Aerospace industry and look forward to working with you on your future requirements.