Basic knowledge of titanium and classification of titanium alloys

◎ A metallic element, gray in color, can burn in nitrogen and has a high melting point. Blunt titanium and titanium-based alloys are new structural materials mainly used in the aerospace and navigation industries.

It took more than a hundred years from the discovery of titanium to the preparation of pure titanium. It was only after the 1940s that titanium was truly utilized and its true nature was recognized.

The ten-kilometer-thick stratum on the geographical surface contains 6/1000 of titanium, which is 61 times more than copper. Just grab a handful of soil from the ground, and it will contain a few thousandths of titanium. It is not uncommon to find titanium ore reserves of more than 10 million tons in the world.

There are hundreds of millions of tons of sand and gravel on the beach. Titanium and zirconium, two minerals heavier than sand and gravel, are mixed in the sand and gravel. After millions of years of continuous washing by sea water day and night, The heavier ilmenite and zircon sand ore are washed together, forming layers of titanium ore and zirconium ore along the long coast. This mineral layer is a kind of black sand, usually several centimeters to tens of centimeters thick.

Titanium is not magnetic, and nuclear submarines built with titanium do not have to worry about magnetic mine attacks.

In 1947, people began to smelt titanium in factories. That year, the output was only 2 tons. In 1955, production surged to 20,000 tons. In 1972, the annual output reached 200,000 tons. The hardness of titanium is about the same as that of steel, but its weight is almost half that of steel of the same volume. Although titanium is slightly heavier than aluminum, its hardness is twice that of aluminum. Nowadays, titanium is widely used instead of steel in space rockets and missiles. According to statistics, more than 1,000 tons of titanium are currently used for space navigation in the world every year. Ultra-fine titanium powder is also a good fuel for rockets, so titanium is known as a cosmic metal and a space metal.

Titanium has very good heat resistance, with a melting point as high as 1725°C. At room temperature, titanium can lie safely in various solutions of strong acids and alkalis. Even the most ferocious acid, aqua regia, cannot corrode it. Titanium is not afraid of sea water. Someone once sank a piece of titanium to the bottom of the sea. Five years later, when it was taken up, it was found that many small animals and undersea plants were stuck to it, but it was not rusty at all and was still shiny.

Now, people are beginning to use titanium to make submarines - titanium submarines. Because titanium is very strong and can withstand high pressures, the submarine can sail in seas as deep as 4,500 meters.

Development History

Titanium was discovered in 1789. In 1908, Norway and the United States began to use the sulfuric acid method to produce titanium dioxide. In 1910, the first sponge was made in the laboratory using the sodium method. Titanium, it was only in 1948 that the American DuPont Company used the magnesium method to produce titanium sponge in tons---this marked the beginning of the industrial production of titanium sponge, that is, titanium.

China's titanium industry started in the 1950s. In 1954, the Beijing General Research Institute of Nonferrous Metals began research on the preparation process of titanium sponge. In 1956, the country included titanium as a strategic metal in the 12-year development plan. In 1958, an industrial trial of titanium sponge was carried out at the Fushun Aluminum Factory, establishing China's first A titanium sponge production workshop, and China's first titanium processing material production test workshop was established at the Shenyang Nonferrous Metal Processing Factory.

In the 1960s and 1970s, under the unified planning of the country, more than 10 titanium sponge production units represented by Zunyi Titanium Factory were built, and Baoji Nonferrous Metal Processing Plant represented by Several titanium processing units have also formed a scientific research force represented by Beijing Nonferrous Metals Research Institute, becoming the fourth country with a complete titanium industrial system after the United States, the former Soviet Union and Japan.

Around 1980, my country's titanium sponge production reached 2,800 tons. However, due to the lack of knowledge of titanium metal by most people at that time, the high price of titanium materials also limited the application of titanium. The production of titanium processed materials was only 200 tons. tons, my country's titanium industry is in trouble.

Under this circumstance, initiated by Comrade Fang Yi, then Vice Premier of the State Council, and supported by Comrades Zhu Rongji and Yuan Baohua, an inter-ministerial national titanium application promotion leading group was established in July 1982 to coordinate the development of the titanium industry and promote 20 From the 1980s to the early 1990s, my country's production and sales of titanium sponge and titanium processing materials were booming, and the titanium industry developed rapidly and steadily.

To sum up, my country's titanium industry has roughly gone through three development periods: the pioneering period in the 1950s, the construction period in the 1960s and 1970s, and the initial development period in the 1980s and 1990s. In the new century, thanks to the sustained and rapid development of the national economy, my country's titanium industry has also entered a period of rapid growth.

Titanium is corrosion-resistant, so it is often used in the chemical industry. In the past, parts of chemical reactors containing hot nitric acid were made of stainless steel. Stainless steel is also afraid of the strong corrosive agent - hot nitric acid. Every six months, all such parts must be replaced. Now, although the cost of using titanium to make these parts is more expensive than stainless steel parts, it can be used continuously for five years, which is much more cost-effective.

In electrochemistry, titanium is a one-way valve type metal with a very negative potential. It is usually impossible to use titanium as an anode for decomposition.

The biggest disadvantage of titanium is that it is difficult to refine. Mainly because titanium has a strong ability to combine at high temperatures and can combine with oxygen, carbon, nitrogen and many other elements. Therefore, people are careful to prevent these elements from "attacking" titanium during smelting or casting. When smelting titanium, air and water are of course strictly prohibited from coming close, and even the use of alumina crucibles commonly used in metallurgy is prohibited, because titanium will steal oxygen from alumina. Nowadays, people use magnesium and titanium tetrachloride to interact in an inert gas - helium or argon to refine titanium.

People take advantage of titanium’s strong ability to combine at high temperatures. When making steel, nitrogen is easily dissolved in the molten steel. When the steel ingot cools, bubbles form in the steel ingot, affecting the quality of the steel. . Therefore, steelmaking workers add titanium metal to the molten steel, causing it to combine with nitrogen and turn into slag-titanium nitride, which floats on the surface of the molten steel, making the steel ingot relatively pure.

When a supersonic aircraft flies, the temperature of its wings can reach 500°C. If a relatively heat-resistant aluminum alloy is used to make the wings, it will not be able to bear temperatures between 100 and 200 degrees Celsius. A light, tough, and high-temperature-resistant material must be used to replace the aluminum alloy, and titanium can just meet these requirements. Titanium can also withstand the test of more than 100 degrees below zero. At this low temperature, titanium still has good toughness and does not become brittle.

Using the strong absorption of air by titanium and zirconium, the air can be removed and a vacuum can be created. For example, using a vacuum pump made of titanium, air can be pumped down to only one part in a million.

Titanium dioxide, the oxide of titanium, is a snow-white powder and the best white pigment, commonly known as titanium white. In the past, people mined titanium ore mainly to obtain titanium dioxide. Titanium white has strong adhesion, is not prone to chemical changes, and is always white. What is especially valuable is that titanium dioxide is non-toxic. It has a high melting point and is used to make refractory glass, glazes, enamels, clay, high-temperature-resistant experimental vessels, etc.

Titanium dioxide is the whitest thing in the world. 1 gram of titanium dioxide can paint an area of ??more than 450 square centimeters white. It is 5 times whiter than the commonly used white pigment - zinc barium white, so it is the best pigment for preparing white paint. The amount of titanium dioxide used as pigment in the world reaches hundreds of thousands tons per year. Titanium dioxide can be added to paper to make the paper white and opaque. The effect is 10 times greater than other substances. Therefore, titanium dioxide must be added to banknote paper and art paper. In addition, in order to lighten the color of plastic and soften the luster of rayon, titanium dioxide is sometimes added. In the rubber industry, titanium dioxide is also used as a filler for white rubber.

Titanium tetrachloride is an interesting liquid. It has a pungent smell and emits white smoke in humid air. It hydrolyzes and turns into a white titanium dioxide hydrogel. . In the military, people use the strange temperament of titanium tetrachloride as an artificial aerosol. Especially on the ocean, where there is a lot of water vapor, when titanium tetrachloride is released, the thick smoke is like a white Great Wall, blocking the enemy's sight.

In agriculture, people use titanium tetrafluoride to prevent frost.

Barium titanate crystal has this characteristic: when it changes shape under pressure, it will generate electric current, and it will change shape again when electricity is applied. Therefore, people put barium titanate in ultrasonic waves, and when it is pressed, it generates an electric current. The strength of the ultrasonic waves can be measured by the size of the electric current it generates. On the contrary, by passing high-frequency current through it, ultrasonic waves can be generated. Nowadays, barium titanate is used in almost all ultrasonic instruments. In addition, barium titanate has many uses. For example: Railway workers put it under the rails to measure the pressure when a train passes; doctors used it to make a pulse recorder. The underwater detector made of barium titanate is a sharp underwater eye. It can not only see schools of fish, but also underwater reefs, icebergs, enemy submarines, etc.

When smelting titanium, complex steps are required. Turn the ilmenite into titanium tetrachloride, put it into a sealed stainless steel tank, fill it with argon gas, and react it with the metal magnesium to get "sponge titanium". This porous "titanium sponge" cannot be used directly. They must be melted into liquid in an electric furnace before they can be cast into titanium ingots. But making such an electric stove is not easy! In addition to the fact that the air in the electric furnace must be pumped clean, what is even more troublesome is that it is impossible to find a crucible containing liquid titanium, because generally refractory materials contain oxides, and the oxygen in them will be taken away by the liquid titanium. Later, people finally invented a "water-cooled copper crucible" electric furnace. Only the central part of this electric furnace is hot, and the rest is cold. After titanium is melted in the electric furnace, it flows to the wall of the copper crucible cooled by water and immediately condenses into titanium ingots. Titanium blocks weighing several tons can already be produced using this method, but its cost can be imagined.

Element name: Titanium

Atomic weight of the element: 47.87

Content of the element in seawater: (ppm)

0.00048

Content of elements in the sun: (ppm)

4

Element type: metal

Number of protons in the nucleus: 22

Number of electrons outside the nucleus: 22

Number of nuclear power cores: 22

Proton mass: 3.6806E-26

Proton relative mass: 22.154

Atomic volume: (cubic centimeter/mol)

10.64

Content in the earth’s crust: (ppm)

5600

The following is the added content:

Oxidation state:

Main Ti 4

Other Ti-1, Ti0, Ti 2, Ti 3

Period: 4

Group: IVB

Molar mass: 48

Hydride: TiH4

Oxide: TiO

The chemical formula of the highest priced oxide: TiO2

Density: 4.54g/cm3

Melting point: 1660.℃

Boiling point: 3287.0 ℃

Ionization energy (kJ /mol)

M - M 658

M - M2 1310

M2 - M3 2652

M3 - M4 4175

M4 - M5 9573

M5 - M6 11516

M6 - M7 13590

M7 - M8 16260

M8 - M9 18640

M9 - M10 20830

Peripheral electron configuration: 2 8 8 4

External electrons Arrangement: 2, 8, 10, 2

Crystal structure: The unit cell is a hexagonal unit cell.

Unit cell parameters:

a = 295.08 pm

b = 295.08 pm

c = 468.55 pm

α = 90°

β = 90°

γ = 120°

Mohs hardness: 6

The sound in it Propagation rate: (m/S) 5090

Color and state: silver gray metal

Atomic radius: 2

Common valence: 2, 3, 4

Discovered by: Gregor Year of discovery: 1791

Discovery process:

Titanium was discovered by the British chemist Gregor R W (1762-1817) ) was discovered in 1791 while studying ilmenite and rutile. Four years later, in 1795, the German chemist Klaproth M H (1743-1817.) also discovered this element when analyzing red rutile produced in Hungary. He advocated the naming method of uranium (discovered by Klapprot in 1789) and named this new element "Titanium" citing the name of the Titans in Greek mythology. The Chinese name is titanium according to its transliteration.

The titanium discovered by Gregor and Klapprot at that time was powdered titanium dioxide, not metallic titanium. Because titanium oxide is extremely stable, and metallic titanium can directly and violently combine with oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, carbon, etc., it is difficult to prepare elemental titanium. It was not until 1910 that American chemist Hunter M A produced titanium metal with a purity of 99.9 for the first time.

Element description:

Has metallic luster and ductility. Density 4.5 g/cm3. Melting point 1660±10℃. Boiling point 3287℃. Valencies 2, 3 and 4. The ionization energy is 6.82 electron volts. The main characteristics of titanium are low density, high mechanical strength and easy processing. The plasticity of titanium mainly depends on its purity. The purer the titanium, the greater its plasticity. It has good corrosion resistance and is not affected by the atmosphere and sea water. At normal temperature, it will not be corroded by dilute hydrochloric acid, dilute sulfuric acid, nitric acid or dilute alkaline solution; only hydrofluoric acid, hot concentrated hydrochloric acid, concentrated sulfuric acid, etc. can act on it.

Element source:

Titanium is a rare metal, ranking seventh in abundance in the earth's crust, with 0.42. Minerals used to smelt titanium mainly include ilmenite (FeTiO3), rutile (TiO2) and perovskite. The ore is treated to obtain volatile titanium tetrachloride, which is then reduced with magnesium to obtain pure titanium.

Uses of elements:

Titanium and titanium alloys are widely used in the aviation industry and are known as "space metals"; in addition, in the shipbuilding industry, chemical industry, manufacturing machinery parts, and telecommunications Equipment, cemented carbide, etc. are increasingly widely used.

Element auxiliary information:

The main ores of titanium are rutile TiO2 and ilmenite FeTiO3. Its discovery was also based on the analysis of these two ores. As early as 1791, Gregor, the pastor of Menacan Parish in Cornwall, southwest England, was also a scientist. He analyzed a black mineral sand produced in his parish, which is today known as mineral sand. A new metallic substance was discovered in the ore of ilmenite and named menacenite. Three years later, in 1795, Klapprot analyzed the rutile produced in the Boinik region of Hungary and realized that it was a new metal oxide with the property of resisting acid and alkali solutions. It was borrowed from the earth in Greek mythology. The first generation of sons, the Titans, named the metal titanium and the element symbol was Ti. Two years later, Klapprot confirmed that the menacenite discovered by Gregor was titanium.

Titanium has strong corrosion resistance to acids and alkalis and has become an important material in chemical production.

Titanium is generally considered a rare metal. In fact, its content in the earth's crust is quite large, larger than the commonly used metals zinc, copper, tin, etc., and even larger than chlorine and phosphorus.

The smelting of titanium

Titanium was discovered in 1791, but the first time pure titanium was produced was in 1910, which took more than a hundred years. The reason is that titanium is very active at high temperatures and can easily combine with oxygen, nitrogen, carbon and other elements. It requires very harsh conditions to extract pure titanium.

In industry, titanium dioxide is produced by decomposing ilmenite with sulfuric acid, and then titanium metal is produced from titanium dioxide. Concentrated sulfuric acid treats ground ilmenite (concentrate), and the following chemical reaction occurs:

FeTiO3 3H2SO4 == Ti(SO4)2 FeSO4 3H2O

FeTiO3 2H2SO4 == TiOSO4 FeSO4 2H2O

FeO H2SO4 == FeSO4 H2O

Fe2O3 3H2SO4 == Fe2(SO4)3 3H2O

In order to remove the impurity Fe2(SO4)3, add iron filings, Fe3 is reduced to Fe2, and then the solution is cooled below 273K, causing FeSO4·7H2O (green vitriol) to crystallize and precipitate as a by-product.

Ti(SO4)2 and TiOSO4 hydrolyze to form a white metatitanic acid precipitate. The reaction is:

Ti(SO4)2 H2O == TiOSO4 H2SO4

TiOSO4 2H2O == H2TiO3 H2SO4

Titanium dioxide is produced by calcining metatitanic acid:

H2TiO3 == TiO2 H2O

Industrially produced titanium metal uses metal thermal reduction method to reduce titanium tetrachloride. Mix TiO2 (or natural rutile) and carbon powder and heat it to 1000~1100K, perform chlorination treatment, and condense the generated TiCl4 steam.

TiO2 + 2C + 2Cl2 = TiCl4 + 2CO-

Reducing TiCl4 with molten magnesium in argon at 1070K can produce porous titanium sponge :

TiCl4 + 2Mg = 2MgC12 + Ti

This kind of titanium sponge is crushed, smelted in a vacuum arc furnace, and finally made. Various titanium materials.

Characteristics and uses of titanium and titanium alloys

Pure titanium is a silver-white metal with many excellent properties. The density of titanium is 4.54g/cm3, which is 43% lighter than steel and slightly heavier than the famous light metal magnesium. The mechanical strength is similar to steel, twice as strong as aluminum, and five times stronger than magnesium. Titanium is resistant to high temperatures, with a melting point of 1942K, which is nearly 1000K higher than gold and nearly 500K higher than steel.

Titanium is a metal with relatively active chemical properties. It can interact with non-metals such as O2, N2, H2, S and halogen when heated. However, at normal temperature, an extremely thin and dense oxide protective film is easily formed on the titanium surface, which can resist the effects of strong acids and even aqua regia, showing strong corrosion resistance. Therefore, ordinary metals become riddled with holes in solutions of acids, alkalis, and salts, while titanium remains unharmed.

Liquid titanium can dissolve almost all metals, so it can form alloys with a variety of metals. Titanium steel made by adding titanium to steel is tough and elastic. Titanium forms interstitial compounds or intermetallic compounds with metals such as Al, Sb, Be, Cr, Fe, etc.

Planes made of titanium alloys can carry more than 100 more passengers than planes made of other metals of the same weight. The submarine made of this material can resist seawater corrosion and deep pressure, and its diving depth is 80% greater than that of stainless steel submarines. At the same time, titanium is non-magnetic, will not be detected by mines, and has a good anti-monitoring effect.

Titanium is "biophilic". In the human body, it can resist the corrosion of secretions and is non-toxic, and is adaptable to any sterilization method. Therefore, it is widely used in the production of medical devices, artificial hip joints, knee joints, shoulder joints, hypochondrium joints, skulls, active heart valves, and bone fixation clips. When new muscle fiber rings wrap around these "titanium bones", these titanium bones begin to maintain the normal activities of the human body.

Titanium is widely distributed in the human body. The content in the normal human body is no more than 15mg per 70kg of body weight. Its role is still unclear. However, it has been proven that titanium can stimulate phagocytes and enhance immunity.

Titanium compounds and uses

Important titanium compounds are: titanium dioxide (TiO2), titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4), barium metatitanate ( BaTiO3).

Pure titanium dioxide is a white powder and an excellent white pigment, with the trade name "Titanium White". It combines the hiding properties of lead white (PbCO3) and the long-lasting properties of zinc white (ZnO). Therefore, people often add titanium dioxide to paint to make high-grade white paint; in the paper industry, it is added as a filler to paper pulp; in the textile industry, it is used as an artificial Matting agent for fibers; used as an additive in the glass, ceramic, and enamel industries to improve their properties; used as a catalyst in many chemical reactions. Today, with the increasing development of the chemical industry, titanium dioxide and titanium-based compounds, as fine chemical products, have high added value and have very attractive prospects.

Titanium tetrachloride is a colorless liquid with a melting point of 250K and a boiling point of 409K. It has an irritating odor. It is easily hydrolyzed in water or humid air, emitting a large amount of white smoke.

TiCl4 3H2O == H2TiO3 4HCl

Therefore, TiCl4 is used as an artificial aerosol in the military, especially in the ocean. During the war. In agriculture, people use the dense fog formed by TiCl4 to reduce the loss of ground heat at night and protect vegetables and crops from severe cold and frost.

Melt TiO2 and BaCO3 together to prepare barium metatitanate:

TiO2 BaCO3 == BaTiO3 + CO2-

Artificially prepared BaTiO3 has a high dielectric constant, and capacitors made from it have a large capacity. More importantly, BaTiO3 has significant "piezoelectric properties" , its crystal will generate electric current when it is pressed, and will change its shape when it is energized. People put it in ultrasonic waves, and when it is pressed, it generates electric current. By measuring the strength of the current, the strength of the ultrasonic waves can be measured. It is used in almost all ultrasonic instruments. With the development and utilization of titanate, it is increasingly used to manufacture nonlinear components, dielectric amplifiers, electronic computer memory components, microcapacitors, electroplating materials, aviation materials, strong magnets, semiconductor materials, optical instruments, reagents, etc. .

The excellent properties of titanium, titanium alloys and titanium compounds have prompted mankind to urgently need them. However, the high production cost limits its application. We believe that in the near future, as titanium smelting technology continues to improve and improve, the applications of titanium, titanium alloys and titanium compounds will receive greater development.

Titanium products:

Titanium and titanium alloys are extremely important lightweight structural materials and have very important application value and application value in aviation, aerospace, vehicle engineering, biomedical engineering and other fields. Broad application prospects.

Types: Typical titanium, industrial pure titanium, α type titanium, β type titanium, α β type titanium

Main characteristics:

Industrial pure titanium: Industrial pure titanium has more impurities than chemically pure titanium, so its strength and hardness are slightly higher. Its mechanical properties and chemical properties are similar to stainless steel. Compared with titanium alloys, pure titanium has better strength and is better than Austrian in terms of oxidation resistance. Temperature stainless steel, but its heat resistance is poor. The impurity content of TA1, TA2, and TA3 increases in sequence, and the mechanical strength and hardness increase in sequence, but the plastic toughness decreases in sequence.

β-type titanium: β-type titanium alloy metal can be strengthened by heat treatment. The alloy has high strength, good weldability and pressure workability, but its performance is unstable and the smelting process is complex.

A. Beta titanium plate: 0.5-4.0mm

B. Eyeglass plate (pure titanium): 0.8-8.0mm

C. Standard plate (pure titanium) Titanium): 1 x 2m Thickness: 0.5-20mm

D, electroplating and other industry plates (pure titanium): 0.1-50mm

Uses: electronics, chemicals, watches, glasses , jewelry, sporting goods, mechanical equipment, electroplating equipment, environmental protection equipment, golf balls and precision processing industries.

Titanium tube specifications: φ6-φ120mm Wall thickness: 0.3-3.0mm

Titanium tube uses: environmental protection equipment, cooling tubes, titanium heating tubes, electroplating equipment, rings and various precision Electrical pipes and other industries.

A. Beta titanium wire specifications: φ0.8-φ6.0mm

B. Glasses titanium wire specifications: φ1.0-φ6.0mm special titanium wire

C. Titanium wire specifications: φ0.2-φ8.0mm special for racks

Titanium wire uses: military industry, medical, sporting goods, glasses, earrings, headwear, electroplating racks, welding wire and other industries.

A. Square rod specifications: Square bar: 8-12mm

B. Polished round rod: φ4-φ60mm

C. Wool rod, black leather Rods: φ6-φ120mm

Use of titanium rods: Mainly used in mechanical equipment, electroplating equipment, medical, various precision machinery and other industries.