Introducing Titanium into Aerospace manufacturing

inspector625

Involved In Discussions
Hello,

Our company is introducing Titanium into our manufacturing process in the fall and therefore we have material suppliers coming in to talk to us regularly. I am wondering if anyone can help me with some questions that I should be asking in regards to this new material on a Quality side? Or if anyone has any experience in Titanium that you could share with me it would be greatly appreciated as I am not a metallurgist. Thank you all either way!:eek:
 

Wes Bucey

Prophet of Profit
Hello,

Our company is introducing Titanium into our manufacturing process in the fall and therefore we have material suppliers coming in to talk to us regularly. I am wondering if anyone can help me with some questions that I should be asking in regards to this new material on a Quality side? Or if anyone has any experience in Titanium that you could share with me it would be greatly appreciated as I am not a metallurgist. Thank you all either way!:eek:
If you are introducing titanium now, WHY? New design? Have a conversation with the design engineer about requirements. Machining this material? Ask questions of machine and cutting tool manufacturers. When we machined titanium, we dedicated a machine to ONLY titanium with special inserts, plus advantage of ONLY titanium turnings and shorts for segregated scrap (higher price.) We did something similar for all nonferrous material - made a big difference in bottom line at the end of the year.
 

dsanabria

Quite Involved in Discussions
If you are introducing titanium now, WHY? New design? Have a conversation with the design engineer about requirements. Machining this material? Ask questions of machine and cutting tool manufacturers. When we machined titanium, we dedicated a machine to ONLY titanium with special inserts, plus advantage of ONLY titanium turnings and shorts for segregated scrap (higher price.) We did something similar for all nonferrous material - made a big difference in bottom line at the end of the year.

you could also ask about heat treating and residual material (how much should you leave on the material so that after heat treat you could machine the alpha particles come to the surface. Another question is handling / cleaning of product before heat treat. Speed and feed are also good questions and don't forget to ask about coolant for the machine operations - which is best. Ask if it is OK to use ceramic insert.
 

JLyt207

Involved In Discussions
As far as the quality aspects I would ask to see copies of certs to make sure they are acceptable and complete. If you are dealing with distributors I would ask about their sources, the mills, and how they will ensure you get the same quality. In other words how the distributor flows down its quality requirements. How does it verify the product at incoming inspection. Do they just rely on the mill cert or do they perform their own testing.

Since this is a new material for you I would also be concerned with the safety and health hazards. What kind of operations are going to be performed on the titanium? Is the scrap going to be reduced to dust or small chips? While safe at normal temperatures it will burn at higher temps or in the form of dust it is an explosive hazard. There are other concerns too. You should also avoid putting water on hot titanium.
 

inspector625

Involved In Discussions
Thanks everyone!!

We are going into Titanium because that is the way Aerospace seems to be heading. We have purchased a new Manzoni (may be spelled wrong) header. This will be a warm header that will be only for Titanium. We are also looking a purchasing a smart threader, which will also be warm (hot) rolling. I am just not sure which questions to ask a supplier about a material I have yet to learn much about. What I need is to take some courses in Metallurgy. Again I appreciate all your input and any more you can offer. Hope everyone has a great day!:)
 
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