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Titanium & Titanium Alloys

Titanium can be alloyed with iron, aluminium, vanadium, and molybdenum, among other elements, to produce strong, lightweight alloys for aerospace (jet engines, missiles, and spacecraft), military, industrial process (chemicals and petro-chemicals, desalination plants, pulp, and paper), automotive, agri-food, medical prostheses, orthopedic implants, dental and endodontic instruments and files, dental implants, sporting goods, jewelry, mobile phones, and other applications,

Titanium Metal Composition

Titanium Grade Overview

Titanium Grades and Alloys: Properties and Applications

Following is an overview of the most frequently encountered titanium alloys and pure grades, their properties, benefits, and industry applications. For specific terminology, please see our ‘definitions’ section at the end of this page.

Commercially Pure Titanium Grades
 

Grade 1
Gradie 1 titanium is the first of four commercially pure titanium grades. It is the softest and most ductile of these grades. It possesses the greatest formability, excellent corrosion resistance and high impact toughness.

Because of all these qualities, Grade 1 is the material of choice for any application where ease of formability is required and is commonly available as titanium plate and tubing. These include:

Chemical processing
Chlorate manufacturing
Dimensional stable anodes
Desalination
Architecture
Medical industry
Marine industry
Automotive parts
Airframe structure

Grade 2
Grade 2 titanium is called the “workhorse” of the commercially pure titanium industry, thanks to its varied usability and wide availability. It shares many of the same qualities as Grade 1 titanium, but it is slightly stronger. Both are equally corrosion resistant.

This grade possesses good weldability, strength, ductility and formability. This makes Grade 2 titanium bar and sheet are the prime choice for many fields of applications:

Architecture
Power generation
Medical industry
Hydro-carbon processing
Marine industry
Exhaust pipe shrouds
Airframe skin
Desalination
Chemical processing
Chlorate manufacturing

Grade 3
grade 3 titanium parts
Grade 3 Titanium Parts

This grade is least used of the commercially pure titanium grades, but that does not make it any less valuable. Grade 3 is stronger than Grades 1 and 2, similar in ductility and only slightly less formable - but it possesses higher mechanicals than its predecessors.

Grade 3 is used in applications requiring moderate strength and major corrosion resistance. These include:

Aerospace structures
Chemical processing
Medical industry
Marine industry

Grade 4
Grade 4 is known as the strongest of the four grades of commercially pure titanium. It is also known for its excellent corrosion resistance, good formability and weldability.

Though it is normally used in the following industrial applications, Grade 4 has recently found a niche as a medical grade titanium. It is needed in applications in which high strength is required:

Airframe components
Cryogenic vessels
Heat exchangers
CPI equipment
Condensor tubing
Surgical hardware
Pickling baskets
Titanium Alloys

Grade 7
Grade 7 is mechanically and physically equivalent to Grade 2, except with the addition of the interstitial element palladium, making it an alloy. Grade 7 possesses excellent weldability and fabricality, and is the most corrosion resistance of all titanium alloys. In fact, it is most resistant to corrosion in reducing acids.

Grade 7 is used in chemical processes and production equipment components.

Grade 11
machining grade 11 titanium
Grade 11 Titanium Machining

Grade 11 is very similar to Grade 1, except for the addition of a tiny bit of palladium to enhance corrosion resistance, making it an alloy. This corrosion resistance is useful to protect against crevice erosion and reducing acid in chloride environments.

Other useful properties include optimum ductility, cold formability, useful strength, impact toughness and excellent weldability. This alloy can be used in the same titanium applications as Grade 1, especially where corrosion is a concern such as:

Chemical processing
Chlorate manufacturing
Desalination
Marine applications
 

Ti 6Al-4V (Grade 5)
Known as the “workhorse” of the titanium alloys, Ti 6Al-4V, or Grade 5 titanium, is the most commonly used of all titanium alloys. It accounts for 50 percent of total titanium usage the world over.

Its usability lies in its many benefits. Ti 6Al-4V may be heat treated to increase its strength. It can be used in welded construction at service temperatures of up to 600° F. This alloy offers its high strength at a light weight, useful formability and high corrosion resistance.

Ti 6AI-4V’s usability makes it the best alloy for use in several industries, like the aerospace, medical, marine and chemical processing industries. It can be used in the creation of such technical things as:

Aircraft turbines
Engine components
Aircraft structural components
Aerospace fasteners
High-performance automatic parts
Marine applications
Sports equipments
 

Ti 6AL-4V ELI (Grade 23)
grade 23 surgical titanium
Grade 23 Surgical Titanium

Ti 6AL-4V ELI, or Grade 23, is the higher purity version of Ti 6Al-4V. It can be made into coils, strands, wires or flat wires. It’s the top choice for any sort of situation where a combination of high strength, light weight, good corrosion resistance and high toughness are required. It has a superior damage tolerance to other alloys.

These benefits make Grade 23 the ultimate dental and medical titanium grade. It can be used in biomedical applications such as implantable components due to its biocompatibility, good fatigue strength and low modulus. It can also be used in detailed surgical procedures, as:

Orthopedic pins and screws
Orthopedic cables
Ligature clips
Surgical staples
Springs
Orthodontic appliances
In joint replacements
Cryogenic vessels
Bone fixation devices
 

Grade 12
grade 12 titanium applications
Grade 12 Titanium Applications

Grade 12 titanium holds an “excellent” rating for its high quality weldability. It is a highly durable alloy that provides a lot of strength at high temperatures. Grade 12 titanium possesses characteristics similar to 300 series stainless steels.

This alloy can be hot or cold formed using press brake forming, hydropress forming, stretch forming or drop hammer method. Its ability to be formed in a variety of ways makes it useful in many applications. This alloy’s high corrosion resistance also makes it invaluable to those manufacturing equipment where crevice corrosion is a concern. Grade 12 can be used in the following industries and applications:

Shell and heat exchangers
Hydrometallurgical applications
Elevated temperature chemical manufacturing
Marine and airfare components

Ti 5Al-2.5Sn
Ti 5Al-2.5Sn is a non-heat treatable alloy that can achieve good weldability with stability. It also possesses high temperature stability, high strength, good corrosion resistance and good creep resistance. Creep refers to the phenomenon of plastic strain over long periods of time, which happens at high temperatures.

Ti 5Al-2.5Sn is mostly used in aircraft and airframe applications, as well as cryogenic applications.

Titanium Grade 16

Titanium Gr.16 is a “lean palladium” option that offers similar corrosion resistance to titanium grade 7 as a reduced cost due to less palladium alloy included.   It is corrosion-resistant and used in a variety of industries, including: 

• Hydrocarbon Processing
• Chemical Processing