Finished titanium parts can be manufactured for $25 per pound compared to $213 per pound, using a technique based on titanium hydride (TiH2) powder. The technology was developed under a Department of Energy Global Initiative for Proliferation Prevention (DOE/GIPP) project performed in the Ukraine.
By reducing the cost of titanium and the associated processing the performance benefit can be applied to more engine platforms thereby impacting US fuel consumption
Cummins Inc. has identified a relevant application using the Ti6Al4V alloy and provided the requirements to adequately assess the performance of the press/sinter/forged bars produced from TiH2
We've previously mentioned the new technologies lowering the costs of high end materials like titanium and carbon fiber, it looks like progress is continuing. The magnitude of the cost drop is striking.
Link: Next Big Future
Link: DOE Report (pdf)
Related: Titanium and Carbon Fiber Costs Coming Down
Kickboxer Subaru WRX Powered Motorcycle Concept
{ 15 comments… add yours below ... }
MMMMMMMM.. cheap titanium spokes.
So, what you’re saying is we can expect to see bikes like the Ducati Desmosedici RR with titanium innards on the cheap?
Very cool! Here’s another interesting material I heard about recently. DuPont’s “metafuse”:
http://www2.dupont.com/Plastics/en_US/assets/downloads/uses_apps/dupont_metafuse_brochure_web.pdf
Does anybody know what the Titanium alloy they are referring to is. I’m not very familiar with the chemical names of Ti alloys.
Why didn’t they give some tensile testing results of the sintered items they have, does this mean that it has the same properties as the standard Ti alloy?
Here’s hoping we’ll see titanium frames and components on future R1’s.
That sure looks like a connecting rod blank to me. That would suggest tensile strength is close to on-par with the billet equivalent. Nice.
-todd
williamthrilliam,
You used “Ducati” and “on the cheap” in the same sentence.
What color is the sky in your world?
Awesome! I’m actually getting some little things cast from aluminum right now (for work, not me) and I’m amazed at how low the cost is at a foundry with a lot of automation. It’s a good time to be engineering or designing bikes.
Well, if Titanium gets eventually cheap, Ducati and consors will find other fancy alloys to build parts for their bike. The point is not only to have the lightest and strongest parts, it’s also to use expensive material to make the bike “exclusive”, differentiate from the competition and flatter the ego of the customer.
Now, it’s great to developp processes to produce Ti parts cheaper, but what about the availability of the raw material, isn’t Ti a kind of rare metal ?
Ti isn’t a particularly rare element, its just expensive to process it into a “pure/metal” form and difficult to work with.
If I remember correctly titanium dioxide is a component of white paint. So every fridge, freezer and washing machine has a little coating of Ti.
Interesting fact, rocks brought back from the moon were 12% TiO2.
As for your other point Nicolas, Titanium is one of the best structural materials we know, and probably the best strength to weight ratio of all the metals. Unless ceramics, plastics or composites take a leap forward it will remain one of the most desirable building materials for automotive and aerospace applications, you have to remember though that titanium isn’t the “best” full stop, it is good at some applications but will be left aside for others e.g. it starts to lose it’s strength at high temperatures.
Regardless, if anyone can get cheap titanium then exotic materials won’t be such a big factor in bike design and engineering solutions will come to the fore. If say Ducati can’t keep up with say Honda in produce more efficient or innovative designs then they will be relegated to the same status as Harley Davidson, preaching tradition and nostalgia.
Perhaps someone could enlighten me, since I don’t know anything about this, but is the final product generated from this process pure Ti or is it still TiH2? Isn’t TiH2 highly reactive?
Kenny, a titanium alloy implies a combination of pure titanium with some other metals. These metals influence the characteristics of titanium, making the alloy more or less suitable for different applications. Commercially pure titanium rarely used as such. For instance, especially in industrial products, the most common titanium alloy is TI-6Al-4V, which is titanium combined with aluminium and vanadium, as designated in the name.
Actually, titanium is the 9th most abundant element in the earth crust, so it can hardly be described as “rare”, and you can actually found it in many other places that you least expect it. Try looking at your toothpaste, your sunscreen, or even some food products. If you see titanium dioxide or E171 written on them, then they contain titanium.
DanTI,
Yeah I know about that. Sorry, I guess inverted comma’s and refering to Ti in its pure form might have confused some people, just laziness on my part.
Is it Ti6-Al4-V or the way you’ve notated it. I’m a little confused is it the chemical notation or is some other form notation being used.
Ti-6Al-4V is the most used form, TI6AI4V is also correct. The notation referres to the composition of the alloy, Titanium, 6% Aluminum and 4% vanadium.
Ahh that makes sense. Cheers. You learn something new everyday
I’ll bet that a carbon fibre con-rod can be made lighter, stronger and cheeper.
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