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Titanium alloy smelting technology is complex and difficult to process. Only a few countries have a complete industrial chain. It is an important high-tech material in the aerospace field, and the global demand is growing rapidly.
1) Rapid growth in demand for titanium alloys
Titanium alloy smelting technology is complex and difficult to process. At present, only four countries in the world, the United States, Russia, Japan, and China, have complete titanium industrial production technology.
In terms of titanium alloy demand, China’s titanium materials are mainly used in the chemical industry, and the demand for titanium materials in the aerospace industry is growing rapidly.
According to the statistics of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association Titanium Zirconium Hafnium Branch, the sales volume of China’s major titanium material manufacturers in the chemical industry accounts for about 50% of the total sales volume.
In the aerospace field, titanium sales have maintained rapid growth. In 2020, the total sales volume of China’s major titanium material manufacturers in the aerospace field is about 17,228 tons, a year-on-year increase of 36.73%, and a compound growth rate of 16.94% compared with the sales volume of 3,603 tons in 2010.
2) In the aviation field, titanium alloys are mainly used in aircraft structural parts, aero-engine structural parts and aviation fasteners, etc., and the consumption continues to increase.
In terms of aircraft structural parts, the amount of titanium used in international advanced fighter aircraft accounts for about 25% of the total mass of the airframe structure, and the amount of titanium used in civil aviation aircraft accounts for about 10%.
The amount of titanium used in Chinese military fighters has gradually increased from the initial 2% of the J-8 to the J-10 with a titanium content of 4%, the J-11 to 15%, and the J-20 to 20%; the civil aviation airliner ARJ21 The amount of titanium alloy used in C919 is 4.8%, and the amount of titanium used in C919 passenger aircraft is 9.3%.
In terms of aeroengine structural parts, titanium alloys are generally used in aeroengine fans, high-pressure compressor discs, blades and other rotating parts and combustion chambers, tailpipes and other stationary parts. The use of titanium alloys is the key to improving the thrust-to-weight ratio of military aeroengines .
In the international advanced aero-engines, the amount of titanium alloy has accounted for 25%~40% of the total mass of the engine. For example, the amount of titanium alloy used in the third-generation aviation engine F100 reaches 25%, and the amount of titanium alloy used in the fourth-generation aviation engine F119 reaches 40%. .
3) In the aerospace field, titanium alloys are used in missile weapon systems and rockets and space vehicles.
In the missile weapon system, the flight speed of a new generation of cruise missiles is increased to Mach 3.5 or even higher. The bulkheads, skins, fuel tanks, etc. made of aluminum alloy materials cannot meet the requirements. Titanium alloy materials must be used to manufacture these missile components; cruise missiles use The power system of the turbojet engine also uses a large number of titanium alloy materials to manufacture its structural components, including the compressor casing, the compressor disc, and the compressor blades.
In addition, some advanced missile warheads began to use titanium alloy materials, such as the US “Slam” AGM-84H, “Tomahawk” II and so on. In rockets and space vehicles, titanium alloys are mainly used in rocket engine casings, rocket nozzle ducts and spacecraft cabins or fuel and oxidant storage tanks and other high-pressure containers.
4) In terms of titanium alloy supply, vacuum consumable arc smelting and cooling-bed furnace smelting are the most widely used in the industrial production of titanium and titanium alloy ingots.
At present, the smelting of titanium alloys for aviation in China basically adopts the vacuum consumable electric arc furnace smelting method. For titanium alloy ingots with high quality requirements, generally 3 times of vacuum consumable arc melting is required to obtain ingots with uniform composition and low defect rate.
Cold-bed furnace melting technology emerged under the demand for high quality and high reliability of titanium alloys for aviation. Metallurgical quality. The cooling-bed furnace smelting technology has developed rapidly abroad, especially the cooling-bed furnace smelting technology in the United States is the most mature.
Many companies have successively introduced electron beam cold hearth melting furnaces, and electron beam cold bed melting has certain applications in China.
5) The demand for titanium alloys in China’s aerospace industry is expected to maintain rapid growth, and related companies are expected to fully benefit.
In the aviation field, the number of my country’s military aircraft is relatively small, and the proportion of old models is relatively high. There is an urgent need to supplement and upgrade the number of military aircraft. The installation of new aircraft and the replacement of domestic aircraft engines for military aircraft increase the demand for titanium alloys in the aviation field. In addition, domestic civil aviation aircraft such as ARJ21 and C919 will successively bring new increments to the demand for aviation titanium materials.
In the aerospace field, as the main consumables for modern warfare, the demand for missiles is expected to maintain rapid growth.
