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Titanium was discovered in 1791 in the mineral menachanite by the British clergyman William Gregor, who named the new element malachite. Four years later, the German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth rediscovered the element in the mineral rutile and named it titanium in allusion to the strength of the mythological Greek Titans. The metal was isolated in 1910. The element is present in meteorites and the sun.
It is used in many things that enhance everyday life such as fashion apparel, medical equipment, automobiles, architecture, aerospace, marine technology, industrial tools, as well as sports equipment. Titanium has played a main role in helping to not only conserve, but to improve our economy. Because of its strength and light weight, Titanium is used in metallic alloys and as a substitute for aluminum. It is used in aircrafts for the fire walls, outer skin, landing- gear components, hydraulic tubing, and engine supports. Space capsules and missiles are also largely made with titanium, and were used immensely when making the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo capsules.
The relative inertness of titanium makes it available as a replacement for bone and cartilage in surgery and as a pipe and tank lining in the processing of foods that we eat. It is used in heat exchangers in desalinization plants because of its ability to withstand saltwater corrosion. Titanium dioxide, which is commonly known as titanium white, is a brilliant white pigment used in paints, lacquers, paper, plastics, textiles, and rubber. Titanium is the fourth most abundant metals in the earths crust. The capacity for production substantially exceeds long term forecast of demand.
Product prices are low and stable. Titanium and rutile ore both sourced in friendly countries with stable regimes, unlike nickel or chromium, and so the price of titanium has never really been subject to crisis or political factors. The ready availability of titanium in a wide and ever increasing range of product forms has assured its growth as a basic, general engineering material. Today a network of mills, stockiest, machinists, and fabricators ensure that the demands of design quality and speed of delivery can be met to many businesses around the world. The extraction of titanium is a multi-stage process in that it is the first metallic product being sponge. This product has no value as an engineering material, and needs to be consolidated and melted to produce ingots from which semi-finished products may be manufactured.
Titanium ingots are the proper starting point of metal manufacture and are handled as the other industrial metals and alloys by forging or rolling to produce intermediate billet or slab. Billet provides the material for manufacture of forgings, bar, wire, and extruded or rolled/ drawn seamless tube and pipes. Forgings are the workhorse of the aerospace industry with a wide range of sizes available. New developments in precision forgings now provide near net shapes with improved material efficiencies. Both investment and sand or graphite mold castings are used and have increased significantly with the use of hot isostatic pressing to seal internal voids and improve properties. Slab provides the starting material for remelted ingot or billet, or from electrodes made up from revert material.
A combination of forging, machinery and fabrication provides the route to all requirements for engineering products. Without titanium, our world may not be able to function or progress with the added bonuses it provides us with. It is a big part of our lives and has created news ways of thinking, working, and even inventing. This strong, but light steel, is not only a vital element because it has the ability to withstand extreme temperatures, Titanium also is twice as strong as aluminum.
With all of this in mind it is not very hard to see exactly why it is considered one of the most cost efficient alternative to stainless and other high-alloy steels.
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Research essay sample on Ability To Withstand Engineering Material Titanium
