Those familiar with titanium know that there are various terms related to it, such as titanium steel, pure titanium, and titanium alloy. What are the differences between them? Today, we'll briefly explain this based on relevant information.
1. Titanium Steel: A Commercial Blend for Traffic Generation. The name "titanium steel" is not a standard academic name, but rather a commercial one. In the market, it actually refers to 316L stainless steel, with the standard grade 022Cr17Ni12Mo2, primarily containing chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), and molybdenum (Mo), with the numbers indicating approximate percentages. Therefore, titanium steel does not contain titanium; its main component is still iron. Merchants use the name "titanium steel" to differentiate it from other stainless steel products when used in jewelry, thereby gaining higher commercial value.
2. Pure Titanium: The almost pure "titanium spirit" Materials that can truly be called titanium generally fall into two categories: pure titanium and titanium alloys. The highest titanium content is found in freshly made sponge titanium, which is produced by reducing titanium tetrachloride with magnesium. Sponge titanium has a loose, porous structure and very low strength, making it unsuitable for direct use as titanium material. Instead, it serves as a raw material in the upstream process of titanium production. Subsequent processing, such as smelting, forging, and rolling, is required to create various shapes of plates, wires, and tubes. While sponge titanium has a titanium content close to 100%, due to the highly reactive nature of titanium, it readily reacts with oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen in the air. Therefore, achieving 100% pure titanium is virtually impossible.
3. Titanium alloys: The "King of Performance" through Multi-faceted Fusion. As the name suggests, titanium alloys are alloys formed by titanium with other metals and non-metals. These metals and non-metals involved in the alloying include aluminum, molybdenum, vanadium, chromium, iron, zirconium, tin, oxygen, and carbon.
Taking the most commonly used TI6AL4V titanium alloy as an example, its titanium content is 90%, aluminum content is 6%, and vanadium content is 4%, hence it is also called titanium 6 aluminum 4 vanadium. TI6AL4V titanium alloy is the world's earliest developed and most widely used titanium alloy, and it was also the first titanium alloy used in the medical field. Its production accounts for more than half of the world's total production of various titanium alloy products, and its application in the aerospace industry exceeds 80%. TI6AL4V titanium alloy has high corrosion resistance, higher strength than pure titanium, good toughness, and is relatively easy to process and weld, resulting in excellent overall performance. Moreover, like pure titanium, it does not cause allergic reactions in humans.
Pure Titanium vs. Titanium Alloys:
There's No Absolute Superiority. So, which is better, pure titanium or titanium alloys? Actually, there's no definitive answer. Different materials are suitable for different products. Generally speaking, excluding factors like appearance, the cost of a properly graded titanium alloy is higher than that of pure titanium. It's crucial to emphasize "properly graded." Properly graded titanium alloys are made by adding other metals and non-metals to titanium as a base, not simply adding a small amount of titanium to other metals to imitate titanium alloys. Consumers are encouraged to learn more about these materials, be discerning, and purchase products that offer good value for money.
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