Myths & Legends
The following statements have been candidly offered to Titania’s technical staff by clients, engineers, technicians, students and laymen.
Some of the same statements can sometimes be found in books and magazines.
- Titanium is a very rare element, that’s why it is so expensive!
- Titanium is toxic and poisonous!
- Titanium is radioactive!
- Titanium is a very hard metal!
- Titanium is an exceptionally strong metal!
- Titanium has exceptional corrosion resistance!
- Titanium is brittle!
- It is impossible to weld titanium!
- It is impossible to machine titanium!
- Titanium is dull gray!
- In his work: “The War of the Worlds”,
H.G. Wells wrote (Chapter 3)
Titanium is a very rare element, that’s why it is so expensive!
Titanium is a very abundant element on the Earth’s crust (it is one of its main components): it is (mainly) the difficulty of extractrip it from the ore that makes it expensive.
Titanium is toxic and poisonous!
No cases of titanium toxicity towards living tissues (in men and animals) have ever been recorded in the history of medicine. Physicians generally regard tTitanium as biologically inert. In fact titanium oxide is one of the fillers used in preparing pills, tablets and other medical preparations.
Titanium is radioactive!
Titanium has only stable natural isotopes, i.e. it is not radioactive. The misunderstanding probably comes from titanium being a “reactive” metal, i.e. a metal with a strong chemical activity towards other elements. Such activity does not involve the emission of any ionizing radiation.
Titanium is a very hard metal!
Commercially pure titanium is a very soft metal and in general all titanium alloys are relatively soft compared with ferrous alloys (without special surface treatments).
Titanium is an exceptionally strong metal!
Commercially pure titanium has a strength comparable with stainless steel, while the best titanium alloys have a strength comparable with some structural steels. What can be really high in tTitanium alloys is the ratio of strength to density (specific strength).
Titanium has exceptional corrosion resistance!
Titanium, like all materials, is sensitive to corrosion in all media. The speed of corrosion can be very high in some media and very low in other media. Titanium is simply corrosion resistant where other materials (e.g. ferrous and nickel – based alloys) can fail.
Titanium is brittle!
Titanium is a ductile metal. Some cases of embrittlement can occur where titanium is contaminated by elements like hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and some trace elements.
It is impossible to weld titanium!
Commercially pure titanium is easily weldable with systems commonly used in steel carpentry (TIG, MIG, plasma, laser, electron beam). Other alloys can be welded if the right welding parameters are chosen.
It is impossible to machine titanium!
All titanium alloys can be sawed, drilled, turned, machined and ground with the right work parameters with tools and machines traditionally used for steel and other metals.
Titanium is dull gray!
Titanium can be polished like most metals up to mirror – like shine. Its softness makes polishing titanium a tedious affair with no long – lasting results, that’s why titanium is often produced as ground, sandblasted, shotblasted or pickled, hence the dull color.
In his work: “ The War of the Worlds”,
H.G. Wells wrote (Chapter 3):
«It was only when I got thus close to it that the strangeness of this object was at all evident to me. At the first glance it was really no more exciting than an overturned carriage or a tree blown across the road. Not so much so, indeed. It looked like a rusty gas float. It required a certain amount of scientific education to perceive that the grey scale of the Thing was no common oxide, that the yellowish -–white metal that gleamed in the crack between the lid and the cylinder had an unfamiliar hue. “Extraterrestrial” had no meaning for most of the onlookers.»
Was this a H.G. Wells’ prophesy on the advent of titanium (the book was written in 1898)?