Aug 13 2013
Topics Covered
Introduction
Chemical Properties
Physical Properties
Mechanical Properties
Thermal Properties
Applications
Introduction
Titanium is a transition metal with a white-silvery metallic appearance. It is a lustrous, strong metal that exhibits good resistance to atmospheric corrosion. The atomic number of titanium is 22 and it belongs to the d-block, period 4, group 4 of the periodic table. Pure titanium is insoluble in water but soluble in concentrated acids.
Titanium is the ninth most abundant metal available on earth’s crust; it is present in most igneous rocks and their sediments. Some of the minerals of titanium are illemenite, rutile, brookite, titanite and anatase. These minerals are primarily distributed in West Australia, Canada, Norway and Ukraine. It is low in toxicity, but the powder form of titanium is an explosion hazard.
Chemical Properties
The chemical properties of titanium are provided in the table below:
|
Chemical Data |
|
CAS number |
7440-32-6 |
|
Thermal neutron cross section |
5.6 barns/atom |
|
Electrode potential |
0.20 V |
|
Ionic radius |
0.680 Å |
|
Electro negativity |
1.54 |
|
X-ray absorption edge |
2.497 Å |
|
Electrochemical equivalent |
0.4468 g/A/h |
Physical Properties
The following table discusses the physical properties of titanium.
|
Properties |
Metric |
Imperial |
|
Density |
4.50 g/cm3 |
0.163 lb/in3 |
|
Melting point |
1650-1670 °C |
3000-3040 °F |
|
Boiling point |
3287 °C |
5949 °F |
Mechanical Properties
The mechanical properties of titanium are tabulated below.
|
Properties |
Metric |
Imperial |
|
Tensile strength |
220 MPa |
31900 psi |
|
Modulus of elasticity |
116 GPa |
16800 ksi |
|
Shear modulus |
43.0 GPa |
6240 ksi |
|
Hardness, Brinell |
70 |
70 |
|
Hardness, Vickers |
60 |
60 |
|
Elongation at Break |
54% |
54% |
|
Poissons Ratio |
0.34 |
0.34 |
Thermal Properties
The thermal properties of titanium are tabulated below.
|
Properties |
Metric |
Imperial |
|
Thermal expansion co-efficient (@20-100°C/68-212°F) |
8.90 µm/m°C |
4.94 µin/in°F |
|
Thermal conductivity |
17 W/mK |
118 BTU in/hr.ft².°F |
Applications
The following are the application areas of titanium:
-
Pigments, additives and coatings
-
Aerospace and marine
-
Industrial
-
Consumer and architecture
-
Jewellery
-
Medical
-
Nuclear waste storage
Titanium compounds are used as paints, rubber, paper, bleaching and opacifying agents. Titanium alloys are known for their high tensile strength and hence used aircrafts, armour plating and missiles. The alkaline earth titanates are used in ultrasonic vibrations generators and sound generators.