Most
of us have already ridden an airplane before. But, most of us never really
thought about what the engines are made of to make an airplane fly safely.
Engineers certainly have to make sure that everything is perfect before they
let a new airplane operate.
One
of the materials an airplane is made of is titanium. This lightweight material
lasts for a very long time and is known to have great strength. It can endure
damages, can hold up heat and even chemical and environmental exposure cannot
break it down.
Titanium
has been used in airplanes since the 1980s. It is being applied to areas that
require high strength. It is primarily used to ensure the airplane's safety and
proper performance.
Aside
from using titanium as a major component and material for airplanes, it is also
commonly being used in making artificial joints, dental implants, and surgical
equipment. Titanium’s operating temperature limit is nearly 500 degrees
Celsius.
Regardless
of where it is being used, titanium is a preferred material because of its
hardness and strength. It has 2 allotropic forms namely alpha and beta. In
these forms, beta is much stronger. Aside from the allotropic forms, titanium
also has five grades of commercially pure or unalloyed types namely: ASTM
Grades 1 through 4 and 7. Each of them has different content. Grade 1 is known
for being the most pure with its tensile strength varying from 172 GPa while
Grade 4 has 483 GPa. One of its primary uses is as titanium oxide in the form
of a white pigment. It is also used as titanium carbide for hard facings and
cutting tools. Titanium is widely used for aircraft structures requiring
greater heat-resistance because of their high strength-to-weight ratio. They
are also used for chemical processing because of their exceptional
corrosion-resistance.
Titanium
has what they call Nitinol. It is a shape memory alloy. It is an alloyed type
of titanium with nickel that exhibits super elastic behavior. This kind of
titanium is mostly being used for implantable devices requiring an initial
shape for insertion and a final shape once in place. It relies on its dynamic
crystalline structure which is sensitive to external stress and temperature.
Be
it an aircraft or whatever you are building, using titanium will surely make it
operate even better. With its light weight and superb strength, anything that
you are planning to build will surely last a long time. Titanium's hardcore
properties have maintained the safety of most of us when using airplane as a
mode of transportation.
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