Current situation of titanium industry in the hott

The current situation of the world titanium industry and the application of titanium in the national defense industry

the development of titanium industry

titanium and its alloys are first widely used in aviation, aerospace and other industries and become indispensable structural materials for the military industry because of their low density (4.51g/cm3), high strength (some up to 1000MPa), high specific strength and excellent high and low temperature performance. In addition, the excellent corrosion resistance and other comprehensive properties of titanium and its alloys in many chemical media have been widely accepted by civil industries such as petroleum, chemical industry, medicine, sports, etc., gradually replacing various metal materials, and leaping to the third place in the use of metal materials in a short time

titanium was discovered in 1789. In 1908, Norway and the United States began to produce titanium dioxide by sulfuric acid method. In 1910, sponge titanium was produced by sodium method for the first time in the laboratory. In 1948, DuPont company of the United States used magnesium method to produce sponge titanium by ton, which marked the beginning of industrialized production of sponge titanium, namely titanium

the reaction process is as follows:

TiO2 + Cl2 → TiCl4

TiCl4 + Mg → Ti

it can be seen that the production process of titanium involves highly toxic chemical medium chlorine (chemical weapons in World War II) and precious metal magnesium, and the reaction process requires a lot of energy, which is the reason why titanium is expensive. The titanium material smelted in this process cannot be used in production, because it is still porous and spongy in shape, which is called sponge titanium. Sponge titanium will be placed in the vacuum consumable arc furnace to smelt titanium ingots for the production of plates, rods, tubes and other forms of titanium materials

China is rich in titanium resources and relatively concentrated in minerals. The total reserves converted into TiO2 is more than 9 billion tons, ranking first in the world. Titanium ore is mainly distributed in Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan and other provinces, of which Panzhihua region accounts for 35% of the world's total reserves. However, compared with the main titanium ore producing areas in the world, China has less natural rutile (TiO2) resources and less placers that are easy to mine and use. Titanium ore is mostly titanium vanadium iron paragenetic rock ore, and the initial cost of beneficiation and smelting is high

China's titanium industry started in the 1950s. In 1954, Beijing General Research Institute of nonferrous metals began to study the preparation process of sponge titanium. In 1956, the country included titanium as a strategic metal in the 12-year development plan. In 1958, the sponge titanium industry experiment was realized in Fushun Aluminum Plant, and China's first sponge titanium production workshop was established. At the same time, China's first titanium processing material production and test workshop was established in Shenyang nonferrous metal processing plant

around 1980, the output of titanium sponge in China reached 2800 tons. However, due to the lack of understanding of titanium by most people at that time, the high price of titanium materials also limited the application of titanium. The output of titanium processing materials was only about 200 tons, and China's titanium industry was in trouble

by the end of 2003, the annual production capacity of sponge titanium in China was 4000 tons, including 3000 tons in Zunyi Titanium plant (the expansion project was basically completed in 2005, with an annual output of more than 5000 tons), and 1000 tons in Fushun titanium plant. In recent years, due to the strong demand for titanium materials in China's sustained development of the national economy, the above two plants can produce at full capacity. The total output in 2003 was more than 4000 tons, reaching 4809 tons in 2004

in 2002, China imported 2147 tons of sponge titanium, exported 11 tons, and net imported 2136 tons; In 2003, China imported 2609.9 tons of sponge titanium, exported 72.7 tons, and net imported 2534.2 tons

in 2002, China produced 3328 tons of sponge titanium, and the actual sales were 3079 tons; In 2003, China produced 4112 tons of sponge titanium and sold 4128 tons. However, due to the large-scale development of the international chemical industry and aerospace industry, international titanium materials have been in short supply, resulting in the crazy rise of titanium materials in China since 2002

the sales distribution of titanium production in different fields of China's major titanium processing material enterprises in 2002 is shown in the following table: the sales distribution of titanium production in different fields of China's major titanium processing material enterprises (%)

the production capacity of titanium processing materials depends on the production capacity of titanium ingots, that is, the total tonnage of vacuum consumable arc furnaces owned by the country. China basically has a production capacity of 20000t/a titanium ingots. Based on 70% of titanium, it has a production capacity of 14000t/A

according to preliminary statistics, China actually produced about 6000 tons of titanium materials in 2003, accounting for about 10% of the world's total output. It can be seen that China's titanium processing industry is not very developed, which requires time and investment

at present, China's titanium processing and manufacturing industry geographically reflects the pattern of three parts of the world:

Northwest China centered on Baoji. With Baoji Nonferrous Metal processing plant and its holding Baoji Titanium Industry Co., Ltd. as the leader, this region has formed a titanium processing and manufacturing base with the highest degree of specialization, the most systematic processing equipment and the most product specifications in China. Titanium material owners in Northwest China, especially some hydraulic forming machines operating outdoors, have a very despicable equipment environment, which should be supplied to the national military production departments and civil equipment production departments, and some of them are exported to Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, Luo Luo Luo and other famous companies

northeast titanium processing and equipment manufacturing group has been formed mainly by Shenyang nonferrous metal processing plant, Fushun Special Steel Plate Co., Ltd., Shenyang Oriental Titanium Industry Co., Ltd. there are many small and medium-sized enterprises in this region, and titanium equipment manufacturing is quite active. Because northeast China is an old heavy industry base in China, there is no shortage of talents, and what is lacking is strengthened management and comprehensive organization ability, Especially with the support of local preferential policies, a certain climate will also be formed

the Yangtze River Delta titanium processing and equipment manufacturing group has been formed mainly by Baosteel Group Shanghai Wugang Co., Ltd., Nanjing BaoTi Zhonghui Group Co., Ltd., Zhangjiagang Hongda steel pipe factory and other units. The processing capacity of non-ferrous metal equipment in the Yangtze River Delta region can reflect China's strength in this area. A large number of non-ferrous equipment are exported every year, and the quality is reliable. Enterprises with partial quality and relatively successful management have entered the door of military manufacturing. Although there is no large-scale military production, it can fully illustrate our manufacturing capacity and the prospect of titanium materials in military applications

around 2005, the single plant capacity of titanium sponge and titanium processing materials in China reached the basic economic scale of 5000 tons per year. In addition to the 5000 tons per year of titanium sponge in the revitalization plan of Northeast China, the medium and long-term energy science and technology development strategy and development plan project to 2020 have been formulated, which can basically realize the long-term aspiration of several generations of titanium workers in China. To a higher level, China will become a powerful country in the titanium industry

only four countries in the world can complete the two complete systems of titanium mining metallurgy processing titanium equipment manufacturing and scientific research design application: the United States, the Soviet Union/Russia, Japan and China. This is also a model of modern metallurgical industry. The following table can reflect the situation of some major titanium material manufacturers in the world recently. The world's sponge titanium manufacturers and production capacity

it can be seen from the above table that the major titanium producers are developed countries and countries of the former Soviet Union (except China), and the particularity of titanium production process puts countries with insufficient funds in a dilemma. As the metal that dominates the world aviation industry, titanium is becoming a tool for some countries to seek world aviation dominance

as AVISMA is the largest material supplier in the global aircraft manufacturing industry (supplying 35% titanium materials for Boeing and 50% titanium materials for Airbus), in addition to supplying 250000-450000 tons of products (including magnesium alloy) for Boeing every year, it also needs to increase the share of deep-processing products. At the same time, Russia also has cooperation projects with Boeing and Airbus (new aircraft R & D and manufacturing company)

Application of titanium in national defense industry

(1) the use of titanium in China's national defense industry

whether in the United States or Russia, its titanium materials are mainly used in aircraft manufacturing and shipbuilding. In recent years, these two fields have developed rapidly in China, with continuous mass production of new aircraft and many projects under research. It is estimated that the amount of titanium used in these two fields will increase significantly. China has long been mature in the use of titanium alloys. Over time, the application of our titanium alloys can also make a leap in the aerospace industry. In the aerospace field, China's first large-scale all titanium ultraviolet space telescope has also been manufactured and tested, and the application of titanium alloy in the space field has a bright future

each titanium alloy has its own purpose. The use of titanium alloy in aircraft manufacturing and aerospace industry is well known, and it is widely used in social life and machinery industry, such as eyeglass frames, golf clubs, super sports bicycles and so on. However, we know little about its use in the army and Navy, and there are not many relevant articles and descriptions. Here are some applications of high-performance titanium alloys in the national defense industry in China

1. Engine industry:

titanium 5al2.5sn high strength titanium alloy - gear sleeve, engine housing, blade cover

titanium 8al1mo1v high temperature titanium alloy - engine blade, gyroscope guide cover, inner skin

titanium 6al4v (tensile strength ≥ 895mpa) heat treatment strengthened titanium alloy - core machine blades and impellers

2 Aviation Industry:

titanium 6al2sn reinforced titanium alloy fasteners, guiding devices, important structures

titanium 4almo1v titanium alloy aircraft frame

titanium sn5zr1mo titanium alloy landing gear, aircraft bearing frame, fasteners

3 Aerospace industry

titanium alloy 1m1315 - Rocket disk, missile base components

titanium alloy 1m1550 - missile power blade sleeve

titanium alloy T-A6V - main material for spacecraft

4 China has successfully developed type and type mortars. The type 82 mortar widely uses titanium alloy, which reduces the weight of the whole gun to 18.1 kg, which is extremely convenient for small units such as squads and platoons to carry out harassing warfare

titanium A7d - Mechanical Analysis forgings of new armored vehicles

titanium a6z5w - components with high requirements for creep resistance such as anti tank rockets (missiles), ground to air missile covers

titanium 1m1551 - high speed rotating components of an armored vehicle

5 Navy industry

lt41 titanium alloy - ship large area skin

3.7114 titanium alloy - excellent weldability, good formability, suitable for all kinds of watertight compartments

titanium v13ca titanium alloy - honeycomb hull, load-bearing frame

titanium alloy is very promising for use on ships. This has something to do with the strength and toughness of titanium alloy, as well as the corrosion resistance. Titanium in seawater is extremely stable. Basically, it can be considered that the hull will not be corroded. This can not only reduce the maintenance cost, but also reduce the weight of the hull, which is a great advantage for ships. In addition, it is also necessary to mention two points: first, titanium is non-magnetic, which is very helpful for diamagnetic detection. Second, it has natural fusion with advanced ship composite coating. The stealth composite material to be used in the future has a disadvantage, that is, it reacts with the high-strength special steel used in previous ships. Due to the potential difference, it is easy to produce galvanic couple in seawater and accelerate corrosion

(2) the use of titanium in the national defense industry of other countries

in the world, many retired, in service or in research weapons and equipment use titanium and its alloy structural parts. With the transformation of modern war mode, the modern army is required to have a very outstanding rapid mobility ability, so for the army, it must rely on the ability of transport aircraft to achieve rapid mobility, This requires the army to lighten its heavy equipment as much as possible. For example, now all countries hope that their artillery can be quickly and effectively transferred to another place to achieve strategic or tactical purposes, which will inevitably lead to the development of titanium alloy in the artillery field