Titanium metal

Titanium is called the wonder metal because it can pack a lot of punch in a small size.
What does this mean.. ? A thin strip of Titanium is stronger than big chunks of other metals. Titanium can withstand high temperature. It can resist corrosion and rust. It is unaffected by magnetism or electricity. It can resist damage by acids. It takes a lot to break or damage Titanium.

Natural Titanium

Titanium does not occur by itself. It is always found as Titanium oxide in nature. Titanium oxide was first discovered in 1791. It is abundant on Earth. In fact, Titanium is the ninth most commonly found element in Earth's crust. Many igneous rocks contain Titanium oxides. Titanium is found in meteorites, in the Sun, Moon and even in stars.

Industrial use of Titanium

Industrial world was once super excited after the discovery of Titanium. Its high strength to weight ratio meant it could replace traditional iron and steel in industries. Titanium is widely available on Earth, and is very strong. This combination means lower prices, and cheaper machines. Experts were talking about high speed, light weight super sonic Titanium jets at affordable costs.

Extracting Titanium

But the wonder metal did not make things easy for man. Separating titanium from its oxides was difficult, time consuming and could not be done in large quantities. It was very difficult to get pure Titanium. Scientists kept working on it hoping to find a simple extraction process. Finally, a scientist called Kroll found a way to extract titanium in 1932. Called the Kroll process, it is used till this day to get Titanium in its pure state.

After the extraction of Titanium, industries have tried to use Titanium in different ways. It is so strong that it is difficult to work with Titanium. Engineering tools cannot shape or chisel Titanium. It takes a lot of effort and time to make Titanium products, because of its strength. Titanium screwheads can break spanners, Titanium bars can break tool tips, and melting titanium for casting is difficult due to the metal's high melting point.

Titanium products

Today, Titanium is used in paints, tooth fillings, body implants and jewellery. Titanium coated tools are common in engineering applications. They are also used in industries like aircrafts and ship building to make engines, parts, and structural frames.

It is up to the future engineers to find better ways to work with this wonder metal.