Titanium Alloy Plate: the "Star Material"

In the shipbuilding industry titanium alloy plate with a series of unique and excellent performance, in the manufac-turing and application of a variety of ships plays a pivotal role.

Unique properties of titanium alloy plate

Titanium alloy plate has many remarkable characteristics. Its low density makes the overall structure lighter; High specific strength, high yield ratio, giving it excellent bearing capacity; Good ductility and high elongation means that it has good deformation ability and is not easy to break. However, titanium is difficult to develop, smelter and use, which is easy to give people the misconception that titanium is difficult to apply. In fact, titanium is abundant, acco-unting for 0.6 percent of the region's reserves, the ninth largest. The chemical activity of titanium has two sides. At room temperature, titanium in the air is very stable, not easy to chemical reactions; However, in high temperature environment, it shows strong chemical activity and can react with a variety of gases.In terms of thermal conductivity, titanium as a metal, thermal conductivity is not slow, but much slower than some common metals. Data show that the thermal conductivity of titanium is close to that of stainless steel, about 1/14 of that of aluminum and 1/5 of that of iron, which also makes it a great application potential in the automobile industry. 

Titanium plate is a key application field in the shipbuilding industry 

Widely used equipment and components 

The application of titanium plate in shipbuilding industry mainly benefits from its excellent corrosion resistance, low density, memory and non-magnetic properties. Titanium and titanium alloys are widely used in nuclear submarines, deep-sea vehicles, atomic icebreakers, hydrofoils, hovercrafts, minesweeper and other types of ships, as well as propellers, whip-like antennas, seawater pipes, condensers, heat exchangers, acoustic devices, fire equipment and many other components on the ship. For now, The main titanium alloys used include industrial pure titanium, Ti-SARV, Ti-6Al-4V, Ti-6Al-2NB-TA-0.8Mo, Ti-3Al-2.5V, Ti-3B (Ti-4Al-2V), NT-7M (Ti -) 2Al-2.5Zr), etc. 

Application practice of all-titanium ship, F1 has accumulated rich practical experience in manufacturing titanium boats. In the 1990s, Tobong Titanium Corporation, Nissei Industrial Corporation, Tengshin Shipyard, and Edo Shipbuilding Institute devoted themselves to the construction of all-titanium fishing boats or speedboats. All titanium ship has many remarkable advantages, light weight makes the ship more flexible; Fast speed, can reach more destinations in the same time; Small engine,reduce the space occupation of equipment; Low fuel costs, reducing OPEX; Low carbon dioxide emission, in line with environmental protection requirements; No surface coating is required, simplifying the maintenance process; The accessories are easy to clean and keep the ship clean. However, all-titanium boats also have some disadvantages, high material cost increases the initial investment; Difficult processing and manufacturing process, high requirements for technology and equipment; The protection requirements are strict and additional protection measures are required to ensure its performance. The ship test results show that the all-titanium ship performs well in speed, stability, vibration and noise. 

Innovation of Marine pumps, valves and piping systems

Ships' pumps, valves and piping systems work in harsh environments and have a service life of only two to five years when made of copper and stainless steel. The replacement of titanium alloy brings good results, especially suitable for high flow dynamic seawater pipeline. Russia has formulated strict standards for the life of ship pipelines, stipulating three life requirements: 8-9 years for first docking and maintenance; The service life shall not be less than 15 years; Full life requires ships of all classes to operate reliably within 25-30 years. This fully reflects the reliability and durability of titanium alloy in the ship pipeline system. 

To sum up, titanium alloy plate has been widely used in many fields of shipbuilding industry with its unique performance advantages, which provides a strong guarantee for the performance improvement and reliable operation of ships.