Development History of Titanium Alloys

Titanium is an important structural metal developed in the 1950s, and titanium alloys are widely used in various fields due to their high strength, good corrosion resistance, and high heat resistance. Many countries around the world have recognized the importance of titanium alloy materials and have conducted research and development on them, which have been applied in practice.
The first practical titanium alloy was the Ti-6Al-4V alloy developed in the United States in 1954. Due to its good heat resistance, strength, plasticity, toughness, formability, weldability, corrosion resistance, and biocompatibility, it has become the flagship alloy in the titanium alloy industry, accounting for 75% to 85% of all titanium alloys. Many other titanium alloys can be seen as modifications of Ti-6Al-4V alloy.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the main focus was on developing high-temperature titanium alloys for aviation engines and structural titanium alloys for aircraft bodies. In the 1970s, a batch of corrosion-resistant titanium alloys was developed, and since the 1980s, corrosion-resistant titanium alloys and high-strength titanium alloys have been further developed. The usage temperature of heat-resistant titanium alloys has increased from 400 ℃ in the 1950s to 600-650 ℃ in the 1990s. The emergence of A2 (Ti3Al) and r (TiAl) based alloys has led to the advancement of titanium from the cold end (fan and compressor) of the engine to the hot end (turbine) of the engine in its usage area. Structural titanium alloys are developing towards high strength, high plasticity, high strength, high toughness, high modulus and high Damage tolerance.
In addition, since the 1970s, shape memory alloys such as Ti Ni, Ti Ni Fe, and Ti Ni Nb have also emerged and have been increasingly widely used in engineering.
There are hundreds of titanium alloys developed in the world, with 20-30 most famous alloys, such as Ti-6Al-4V, Ti-5Al-2.5Sn, Ti-2Al-2.5Zr, Ti-32Mo, Ti Mo Ni, Ti Pd, SP-700, Ti-6242, Ti-10-5-3, Ti-1023, BT9, BT20, IMI829, IMI834, etc. [2,4].
According to relevant statistical data, the amount of titanium used in China's chemical industry reached 25000 tons in 2012, a decrease from 2011. This is the first time since 2009 that China's chemical titanium market has experienced negative growth. In recent years, the chemical industry has always been the largest user of titanium processing materials, with its usage accounting for over 50% of the total usage of titanium materials, reaching a high of 55% in 2011. However, as the economy enters a downturn, the chemical industry not only significantly reduces new projects, but also faces industrial restructuring, with some new production capacity for products being controlled and outdated production capacity gradually being phased out. Due to this impact, the decline in the usage of titanium processing materials has become a natural trend. Prior to this, industry insiders predicted that the amount of titanium used in the chemical industry would peak between 2013 and 2015. From the current market performance, the overall economic weakness in 2012 may have led to an earlier recession period for chemical titanium.