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You’ve maybe heard about titanium being used in watches and jewelry? Or maybe you’re familiar with its application in airplanes and spacecrafts? Titanium has the highest strength-to-weight ratio of all metals. That’s why it’s an excellent material in applications where weight is minimized, and strength maximized as in airplanes. In recent years, the change in the market price of titanium has led to a wider interest about titanium’s use in other applications and its use has extended more widely to other industries like construction and machinery.

 

Why use titanium in pressure equipment?

Basic metals, such as stainless steel, can’t sustain chemical stress for a long period of time and need to be maintained regularly. Titanium is an excellent manufacturing material because it’s light, durable and can resist corrosion and erosion and endure high temperatures very well.

“When we choose to use titanium in pressure equipment it basically lasts a lifetime – and a bit longer.” says our Project Director, Panu Perasto.

Challenging but extremely durable material

In industry applications, titanium needs to be either welded, formed or machined. But that is not the easiest task in the world. Welding titanium requires use of special methods and surroundings. It also requires a lot of expertise and knowledge of how the material acts when heat and pressure are applied.

What is more, the surroundings in welding titanium need to be especially clean to be able to produce consistent quality. Also, exposure to any gasses such as oxygen and hydrogen must be minimized.

At West Welding we’ve been able to tackle these challenges by investing in the latest welding equipment and procedures. We’ve also been taking care of training our experienced staff, who have years of experience in welding. Today, we are able to use titanium as a manufacturing or cladding material and thereby deliver extremely durable products to our clients.

Plasma and TIP TIG  – best welding methods for titanium

 

Plasma arc welding of titanium using Argon as a shielding gas.

Plasma arc welding of titanium using Argon as a shielding gas.

Plasma arc welding is a mechanized welding method that utilizes electric energy to produce an arc. Plasma welding is suitable for welding large, thin structures. Because plasma welding is a mechanized welding method, the welding quality is very high and consistent.

In plasma arc welding the welding process begins by removing any excess impurities, like dust, from the surface of the titanium plate. During welding, the surface of titanium is sprayed with a shielding gas, argon, which replaces the nitrogen and oxygen in the air. Proper shield gassing is vital in creating desired outcome.

TIP TIG Welding for titanium component.

TIP TIG Welding for a titanium component.

One of the most recent welding innovations is TIP TIG Welding. When mechanical welding isn’t possible, TIP TIG welding is suitable for welding together smaller sections. Compared to regular TIG welding, TIP TIG welding increases productivity and reduces the chance of errors. Some materials also lose their attributes if too much heat is applied. TIP TIG welding uses lower temperatures and distributes the heat more evenly maintaining the quality of the material.

Interested in hearing how titanium could be used in your upcoming project?

Contact our Project Director, Panu Perasto for more information: panu.perasto@westwelding.fi