TITANIUM

No doubt you've seen what stunning titanium ring designs we offer in our extensive collection. In addition to design, the very properties of titanium make this a great choice for your accessory, whether it's your cherished wedding band, to wear for many years to come, or to wear as a fashion ring.

Below is all the information on titanium and its properties which make it an incredible metal for all its applications and uses.

About Titanium

In the periodic table, the chemical element titanium has the symbol TI, and the atomic number 22.

This element occurs in numerous minerals with the main sources being rutile and ilmenite, which are widely distributed over the Earth.

History

Titanium (Latin Titans, Earth or the first sons of Gaia) was discovered in England by Reverend William Gregor in 1791. He recognized the presence of a new element in ilmenite, and named it menachite. At around the same time, Franz Joseph Muller also produced a similar substance, but could not identify it. The element was independently rediscovered several years later by German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth in rutile ore. Klaproth confirmed it as a new element and in 1795 he named it for the Latin word for Earth (also the name for the Titans of Greek mythology).

The metal has always been difficult to extract from its various ores. Pure metallic titanium (99.9%) was first prepared in 1910 by Matthew A. Hunter by heating TiCl4 with sodium in a steel bomb at 700–800 °C in the Hunter process. Titanium metal was not used outside the laboratory until 1946 when William Justin Kroll proved that titanium could be commercially produced by reducing titanium tetrachloride with magnesium in the Kroll process which is the method still used today.

In 1950–1960s the Soviet Union attempted to corner the world titanium market as a tactic in the Cold War to prevent the American military from utilizing it. In spite of these efforts, the U.S obtained large quantities of titanium when a European company set up a front for the U.S. foreign intelligence agencies to purchase it.


Titanium's notable characteristics

It is a lustrous, silvery-white metallic color. It is also well know for its excellent corrosion resistance (including resistance to sea water and chlorine. attack by most acids) Titanium is used in strong light-weight alloys (most notably with iron and aluminum) and its most common compound, titanium dioxide, is used in white pigments.

One of titanium's most notable characteristics is it's high strength to weight ratio. It is as strong as steel but is less than half its weight.It is 60% heavier than aluminum, but twice as strong.

In addition to its lightness and strength, it also has a low density (40% as dense as steel). When pure, it;s very ductile, making it easy to work with.

These properties make titanium very resistant to the usual kinds of metal fatigue.

Titanium forms a passive but protective oxide coating which lend to its corrosion-resistance when exposed to elevated temperatures in air but at room temperatures it resists tarnishing (perfect for jewelry!).

Applications

Approximately 95% of titanium is consumed in the form of titanium dioxide (TiO2). An intensely white permanent pigment with good covering power, it is found in in paints, paper, toothpaste, and plastics. Paints made with titanium dioxide are excellent reflectors of infrared radiation and are therefore used extensively by astronomers and in exterior paints.

Titanium dioxide is also used in sunscreens due to its ability to protect skin by itself.

Because of its very high tensile strength (even at high temperatures), light weight, extraordinary corrosion resistance, and ability to withstand extreme temperatures, titanium alloys are principally used in aircraft, armor plating, naval ships, spacecraft and missiles.

Starting with the extensive use of titanium in the early Mercury and Apollo space craft, titanium alloys continue to be widely used in military and NASA space applications.

Its vanadium alloy is used to make the outer skin of aircraft, to make fire walls, landing gear, and hydraulic tubing. A typical commercial jet airplane contains 700 to 2500 lb (320 to 1130 kg) of titanium.

Because it is considered to be physiologically inert, titanium is used in medicine:it is used in joint replacement implants such as hip ball and sockets and to make medical equipment. Its inertness and ability to be attractively colored makes it a popular metal for use in body piercing, and because Titanium has the unusual ability to osseointegrate, it enables it's use in dental implants.

Use of titanium in consumer products such as golf clubs, bicycles, laboratory equipment, wedding bands, and laptop computers is becoming more common.

Titanium use in construction: the 150-foot (45 m) memorial to Yuri Gagarin, the first man to travel in space, in Moscow, is made of titanium for the metal's attractive color and association with rocketry. The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and the Cerritos Library were the first buildings, respectively, in Europe and North America to be sheathed in titanium panels.

Other uses:

* Due to excellent resistance to sea water, it is used to make propeller shafts and rigging and in the heat exchangers of desalination plants.
* It is used to produce relatively soft artificial gemstones.
* Titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4), a colorless liquid, is used to make smoke screens and in skywriting because it fumes strongly in moist air.
* It is also used as a strengthening filler in paper, cement and in gemstones.
*Because it is considered to be physiologically inert , and in pipe/tank lining in food processing.

Titanium Rings Collection