The history of titanium, a metal that exists in abundance but has not been utilized by humans for a long time
Titanium is the ninth most abundant element in the earth's crust, and is estimated to be about 30 times more abundant than carbon and 100 times more than copper, despite its abundance. It wasn't until the late 19th century that it was put to good use. Brian Potter, who specializes in construction physics, explained how titanium was produced, processed, and used as a product material.
The Story of Titanium - by Brian Potter
Titanium is a strong and light metal, and is often used in products that require strength and safety, such as aircraft. However, titanium was difficult to cast because it easily combines with oxygen and other elements, and it was not produced commercially until the late 1900s.
Titanium was first discovered in 1790 by the British chemist William Gregor. In 1795, Prussian chemist Martin Klapros succeeded in extracting titanium from the mineral rutile. Because of its strong bond with oxygen, Klapros named this metal titanium, after the Titans of Greek mythology.
Due to its tendency to bond, titanium was extremely difficult to obtain in its pure form, and for the next 100 years, titanium was considered a rarity, available only in laboratories. In the 1880s, two Swedish scientists succeeded in producing titanium metal with a purity of 94%, and in 1910, General Electric Company scientist Matthew Hunter developed a process for producing titanium metal. I am.
However, a manufacturing process sufficient for commercial production was not developed until the 1930s. In 1930, Luxembourg chemist William Kroll began experimenting with titanium in his home laboratory and developed a process for producing titanium by reacting titanium chloride and magnesium under vacuum. By 1938, they had successfully produced 50 pounds of titanium metal and successfully formed it into wire, rod, sheet, and plating. Kroll then went to the United States in 1938 and tried to sell his method, but this ended in failure.
In the same year, the U.S. Bureau of Mines began investigating titanium in response to research by Phillips, which had developed a proprietary process for producing titanium, and concluded that the process established by Kroll had the most potential as a commercial process. Started development. The work was delayed by the war, but in 1944 they built a factory that could produce 100 pounds (about 45 kg) of titanium per week.
Titanium research accelerated after the end of World War II, and it was not until 1947 that it became possible to stably produce the porous, sponge-like metal that is the basis of products. It attracted attention for its light weight and corrosion resistance, and expectations were high that it could be used in the aerospace industry, where the material is often exposed to high temperatures.
In 1948, titanium first began to be produced commercially in factories capable of producing 100 pounds of titanium per day. Initially, titanium was used experimentally in fighter jets such as the F-84 and F-86, and media companies aroused market interest by describing it as a 'mysterious metal' and 'miracle metal.' Public interest continued to grow over the course of 2019, with more than 20 companies announcing plans to produce titanium.
However, the emerging titanium industry was forced to struggle. In 1951, the Materials Advisory Committee predicted that approximately 30,000 tons of titanium would be produced per year, but actual shipments were only 75 tons. It was barely enough for research purposes.
Therefore, the US government intervened to support the production of titanium, funding the construction of several titanium factories, and began following up efforts such as purchasing surplus products as a national stockpile. The Department of Defense's titanium development program was also successful, and by 1958 the United States alone was able to produce several thousand tons of titanium products annually.
While the production of titanium for aerospace applications was progressing at a rapid pace, applications quite different from military purposes were being discovered. In 1952, Swedish medical researcher Per Ingvar Brånemark discovered that a titanium camera implanted in a rabbit's leg was fused to the bone.
At the time, it was believed that implanting a foreign object into the body would eventually lead to a rejection reaction, so the discovery that bone could bond directly with titanium immediately attracted attention as a radical breakthrough and had a major impact on medical implant research. I gave it.
Subsequently, medical implants such as titanium dental implants and artificial hip joints were developed, as well as bone conduction middle ear implants that took advantage of titanium's ability to transmit sound.
Research into titanium progressed by leaps and bounds, and by the mid-1960s titanium had become widely known as an effective material. By 1971, titanium was particularly useful as a supporting material for aerospace technology, with 46% of titanium produced being used in commercial aircraft and 37% in government aerospace projects.
Although the manufacturing cost of titanium is decreasing at a rapid learning rate, ``the cost decreases by 23% every time the cumulative production volume doubles'', it still costs five times as much as aluminum. , it costs 10 times more than aluminum to produce the final product. For this reason, it has not been able to replace aluminum and stainless steel, and is mainly used in places where the high cost is worth it.
'Titanium is an important material that supports modern science and technology, but it is also a material that teaches us about the importance of chance in scientific discovery and technological progress,' Potter said, 'particularly in terms of titanium's biocompatibility and medical implants.' The discovery of titanium, such as its usefulness, was entirely by chance. Working with titanium means understanding its chemical properties and also having the opportunity to learn about its history. This learning is based on advances in technology. 'It's so important to us that the better we understand it, the more new and better technologies will emerge.'
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