Titanium Sheet and Titanium Rolled Products

If you’ve been involved in the aerospace industry during the last two decades you’re probably aware of the increasingly common use of titanium products in both aircraft frames and parts, as well as aircraft engine components.

The rising costs of fuel and other factors in the economy have driven the need for more fuel-efficient aircraft. Because of titanium’s weight-to-strength ratio, aircraft manufacturers have increasingly made more use of titanium parts that are lighter than many traditional materials. 

Titanium and the Aerospace Industry

One noticeable trend is the degree to which titanium has been used in aircraft manufacturing. Titanium possesses a high degree of heat and corrosion resistance when in contact with carbon-fiber reinforced polymers, or CFRPs. This has led to an increased use of titanium in the fastening elements, airframe, and landing gear of aircraft.

In addition to aircraft parts and frames, several aircraft engine manufacturers have started to use titanium. The higher strength and low density of titanium over aluminum, for example, provides manufacturers with higher levels of performance.

Because jet engine parts need to withstand temperatures from subzero to 600 degrees Celsius, the high temperature performance of titanium makes it an ideal fit. Engine parts manufactured from titanium include blades, shafts discs, and casings.

Extreme Titanium Usage: The A-10 Thunderbolt Cockpit

While titanium materials and parts are used in numbers of aircraft for a variety of purposes, few uses are as extreme as the titanium in the Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt.

An entry on the Airforce-Technology.com website notes that,

“The A-10 Thunderbolt is also known as the Warthog, the ‘flying gun’ and the Tankbuster. The aircraft was used extensively during Operation Desert Storm, in support of Nato operations in response to the Kosovo crisis, in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The A-10 is a high-survivability and versatile aircraft, popular with pilots for the ‘get home’ effectiveness.”

Part of the “get home” effectiveness comes from the fact that the single-seat cockpit is protected by all-round armor, including a titanium “bathtub” structure that surrounds the pilot.

This titanium shell is up to 1.5 inches thick and provides a virtually bulletproof enclosure that protects both the pilot and critical areas of the flight control system. In fact, this titanium “bathtub” can survive direct hits from armor-piercing and high explosive projectiles up to 37 mm in size. 

Considerations of Titanium and Aluminium

Titanium is significantly stronger than both aluminium and magnesium, although the higher density of titanium means its strength-to-weight ratio tends to be similar to aluminum.

ProtoLabs points out that, 

“Although titanium is about two-thirds heavier than aluminum, its inherent strength means that you need less of it. In fact, you need a fraction of the amount of titanium to get the same physical strength you would get with aluminum.”

Because titanium is much much harder than aluminum, it is farm more scratch resistant. However, the hardness of titanium is lower than most steel, so it scratches easier.

Titanium is costlier than aluminium due to its high processing cost. According to one metals refinery, 

“Titanium cannot be extracted by using carbon to reduce the ore as it forms titanium carbide making the metal very brittle. Instead, the extraction process involves several stages that are referred to as the Kroll Process. It is the complexity of this process and the energy expended in production that gives titanium its high market price.

The metal must first be turned into a porous form, or titanium sponge as it is sometimes called. From this ingots can be formed by slowly melting the porous metal and these ingots can then be turned into smaller products such as bills, bars, sheets, strips and tubes.”

Aluminum is the most common metal on Earth. It is essentially corrosion-free and its relative light weight makes it a great candidate for any number of applications, especially in the aerospace industry..

Titanium, on the other hand, is also one of the most common metals on the planet. However, because of its high melting point, it’s difficult to process it into raw materials and products. It is more expensive than other metals because of this as well as being difficult to machine.

AAA Air Support – Your Expert Source for Titanium Sheet and Rolled Products

If you need a certain grade of titanium sheet, plate or bar materials, we stock a wide variety of grades and specifications including AMS, ASTM, DMS, ISO and MIL. Titanium products can be had in a number of alloys and tempers, as well as various annealing treatments. 

In addition, we carry commercially pure titanium (CP) as well as Alpha, Beta, and Alpha-Beta Titanium Alloys for military specifications in sheets, plates, and strips.

We offer a wide variety of aerospace parts and other metal supply services. We specialize in aerospace roll forming. Roll forming is a process that uses a coil or strip of metal, which is continuously passed through shaping rollers and dies to form the desired profile.

No matter whether you need 100 square feet of a titanium sheet product, or just a small titanium rolled part, AAA Air Support promises to always ship out your part orders quickly and efficiently.

Our goal always is to provide your company with the means to complete that project or get that airplane off the ground and back in the air.

TITANIUM SPECIFICATIONS CHEAT SHEET

Grade 5 Sheet/Plate

• AMS-4911 L
• AMS-T-9046 A  AB-1 COND A
• MIL-T-9046 J AB-1
• MIL-T-9046 H TY 3 COMP C
• ASTM-B-265 08A
• ASTM-F-1472 08 
• DMS-1592
• M000196 K
• ISO 5832-3 (96)

Grade 5 Bar

• AMS-4928 R
• MIL-T-9047 G
• AMS-T-9047 A
• AMS-6931 A
• ASTM-B-348 09
• ASTM-F-1472 08
• ISO 5832-3 (96)
• AMS-6930 (STA)

Grade 23 Sheet/Plate

• ASTM-F-136 08
• MIL-T-9046 J AB-2
• AMS-4907 H
• ASTM-B-265 08A
• AMS-T-9046 AB-2
• M000151 K
• ISO 5832-3 (96)

Grade 23 Bar

• MIL-T-9047 G
• ASTM-B-348 09
• AMS-4930 F
• M000105 K
• ISO 5832-3 (96)

Grade 1 Sheet/Plate

• ASTM-F-67 06 GRADE 1
• ASTM-B-265 09A
• AMS-T-9046 A CP-4
• MIL-T-9046 J CP-4
• ISO 5832-2 

Grade 2 Sheet/Plate

• AMS-4902 J
• MIL-T-9046 J CP-3
• MIL-T-9046 H TYPE 1 COMP A
• ASTM-F-67 06 GRADE 2
• ASTM-B-265 09A GRADE 2
• ISO 5832-2 

Grade 3 Sheet/Plate

• AMS-4900 M
• ASTM-F-67 06 GRADE 3
• AMS-T-9046 A CP-2
• MIL-T-9046 H TYPE 1 COMP C
• ASTM-B-265 09A 
• MIL-T-9046 J CP-2
• ISO 5832-2 

Grade 4 Sheet/Plate

• AMS-4901 P/R
• AMS-T-9046 A  CP-1
• MIL-T-9046 J CP-1
• MIL-T-9046 H TYPE 1 COMP B
• DMS-1536 J
• DMS-2442 E
• ASTM-B-265 09A
• ASTM-F-67 06 GRADE 4
• ISO 5832-2 

Grade 4 Bar

• AMS-4921 L