The price of titanium alloy is between $200 and $400 per kilogram, while the price of military titanium alloy is twice as expensive. So, what is titanium? Why is it so expensive after alloying?
First, let's understand the source of titanium. Titanium mainly comes from ilmenite, rutile and perovskite. It is a silvery-white metal. Due to the active nature of titanium and the high requirements for smelting technology, people have been unable to produce a large amount of titanium for a long time, so it is also classified as a "rare" metal.
In fact, humans discovered titanium in 1791, but the first pure titanium was produced in 1910, which took more than a hundred years. The main reason is that titanium is very active at high temperatures and is easy to combine with oxygen, nitrogen, carbon and other elements. It takes very harsh conditions to extract pure titanium. However, China's titanium production has grown from 200 tons in the last century to 150,000 tons now, currently ranking first in the world. So, where is titanium mainly used when it is so expensive?
1. Titanium crafts. Titanium has a high density and is corrosion-resistant, especially oxidizable and colorable. It has an excellent decorative effect and is much cheaper than real gold, so it is used to replace real gold for craft ceramics, antique buildings and ancient building repairs, outdoor nameplates, etc.
2. Titanium jewelry. Titanium has actually quietly entered our lives. Some jewelry made of pure titanium that girls now wear. The biggest feature of this new type of jewelry is health, safety and environmental protection. It will not produce harmful substances to human skin and body, and is called "green jewelry".
3. Titanium glasses. Titanium has a higher ability to resist deformation than steel, but its weight is only half of the same volume of steel. Titanium glasses look no different from ordinary metal glasses, but they are actually light and comfortable, with a warm and smooth touch, without the cold feeling of other metal glasses. Titanium frames are much lighter than ordinary metal frames, will not deform after long-term use, and the quality is more guaranteed.
4. In the field of aerospace, many steels on current aircraft carriers, rockets, and missiles have been replaced with titanium alloys. Some people have done cutting experiments with steel plates and titanium alloys, also because of its resistance to deformation and light weight. During the cutting process, it was found that the sparks produced by titanium seemed to be a little different. The steel plate was golden, while the sparks of titanium alloy were white. This is mainly because of the small particles produced by titanium alloy during the cutting process. It can spontaneously ignite in the air and emit bright sparks, and the temperature of these sparks is much higher than that of steel plate sparks, so titanium powder is also used as rocket fuel.
According to statistics, more than 1,000 tons of titanium are used for navigation in the world every year. In addition to being used as space materials, titanium is also used to make submarines. Someone once sank titanium to the bottom of the sea, and found that it was not rusted at all when it was taken out five years later, because the density of titanium is only 4.5 grams, and the strength per cubic centimeter is the highest among metals and can withstand 2,500 atmospheres of pressure. Therefore, titanium submarines can sail in the deep sea of 4,500 meters, while ordinary steel submarines can dive up to 300 meters.
The application of titanium is rich and colorful, and titanium alloys are also widely used in medicine, and are used in dentistry, plastic surgery, heart valves, medical equipment, etc. However, the current price of titanium products in the market is generally high, which makes many consumers stay away. So, what exactly causes this situation?
The mining and utilization of titanium resources is very difficult. The distribution of ilmenite sand mines in my country is scattered, and the concentration of titanium resources is low. After years of mining and use, high-quality and large-scale resources have been mined, but because the development is mainly based on civilian mining, it is difficult to form large-scale development and utilization.
The demand for titanium is very strong. As a new type of metal material, titanium has been widely used in aerospace, construction, ocean, nuclear energy and electricity. With the continuous improvement of my country's comprehensive national strength, the consumption of titanium has also shown a rapid growth trend.
Insufficient titanium production capacity. At present, there are only a few industrialized countries in the world that can produce titanium.
Titanium processing is difficult.
From sponge titanium to titanium ingots, and then to titanium plates, dozens of processes are required. The smelting process of titanium is different from that of steel. It is necessary to control the melting rate, voltage and current, and ensure the stability of the composition. Due to the numerous and complex processes, it is also difficult to process.
Pure titanium is soft and generally not suitable for use as titanium products. Therefore, other elements need to be added to improve the metal properties. For example, titanium-64, which is commonly used in the aviation industry, needs to add a large amount of other elements to improve its metal properties.
Titanium reacts strongly with halogens, oxygen, sulfur, carbon, nitrogen and other elements at high temperatures. Therefore, the smelting of titanium needs to be carried out in a vacuum or inert atmosphere to avoid contamination.
Titanium is an active metal, but its thermal conductivity is poor, which makes it difficult to weld with other materials.
In summary, there are many factors that affect the price of titanium alloys, including cultural value, demand, production difficulty, etc. However, with the continuous development of science and technology, the difficulty of production may gradually decrease in the future.
Post time: Jan-02-2025