Application status and prospect of titanium alloy in automobile industry

Although titanium was discovered by British and German scientists as early as the end of the 18th century, it was not until the early 20th century that scientists in the United States extracted pure titanium, and the industrial scale production of titanium was already in 1948, and the development of titanium industry is an emerging industry developed with the development of the aerospace industry. Although titanium alloys have been widely used in the aerospace, petrochemical and ship industries, their application in the automotive industry has been slow to develop. Since 1956, the United States General Motors successfully developed the first all-titanium car, until the 1980s, titanium auto parts did not reach mass production, the 1990s with the increase in demand for luxury cars, sports cars, racing cars, titanium parts have been accelerated.

The advantages of titanium as an automotive component material are: high strength, low density, elastic modulus is about half of steel, low coefficient of thermal expansion, about half of stainless steel and aluminum, non-magnetic, low thermal conductivity, no pollution to the environment, etc. In addition, after the use of titanium in the automotive industry, it can greatly reduce the quality of automobile maintenance, reduce its fuel consumption, improve the efficiency of automobile work, and reduce noise. The most common is the use of titanium alloy to manufacture engine parts, there are many benefits: titanium alloy density is low, can reduce the inertial mass of moving parts; At the same time, titanium valve spring can increase the free vibration, weaken the body vibration, improve the engine speed and output power; Reduce the inertial mass of moving parts, thereby reducing friction and improving engine fuel efficiency. The selection of titanium alloy can reduce the load stress of the relevant parts and reduce the size of the parts, so that the quality of the engine and the whole vehicle can be reduced. The reduction of inertial mass of components reduces vibration and noise and improves engine performance. In summary, the use of titanium alloy in automotive products is mainly divided into two categories, the first category is to reduce the quality of the original parts, which mainly involve the high-speed reciprocating parts of the engine and the weight of the car. The second type is used to make corrosion resistant parts, mainly including exhaust systems, chassis parts, suspension systems and other automotive parts in harsh environments, which can improve the service life of automotive parts.

With the development of society, energy saving and environmental protection is the main body of product development, and the "lightweight" of automobiles is a very important direct energy saving and emission reduction measure in the automotive industry, which has become the consensus of the industry. Research shows that about 60% of the fuel used by the car is consumed in the car's own weight, and every 10% of the car's maintenance quality is reduced, the exhaust emissions can be reduced by 10%, and the fuel consumption can be reduced by 7%. In 1956, General Motors (GM) and its suppliers assembled a show car with an all-titanium body; Japan's Honda Motor company in 1994 NSX racing 3.0L24 valve V-6 engine used forged titanium connecting rod; Titanium valve spring seats are used in high-capacity, four-cylinder engines made by Mitsubishi Motors. Titanium rods are also used in Porsche cars.

Advantages of titanium alloy parts

Titanium alloy has the advantages of light weight, high specific strength and good corrosion resistance, and has been widely used in the automobile industry, the most used is the engine system. The application of titanium alloy parts can reduce engine vibration and noise, improve crankshaft rotation speed, reduce crankshaft stress, obtain higher engine torque, can improve the critical speed of engine valve vibration, can reduce spring load, reduce valve wear and reduce fuel consumption. It is suitable for the design, manufacture and application of automobile mufflers, which on the one hand makes use of the high processability of titanium alloy at room temperature, and also improves the application of high temperature strength, high oxidation resistance and creep resistance. The application of titanium alloy in other components can improve the comfort of personnel and the beauty of the car. In addition, titanium alloy has played an immeasurable role in automobile energy saving and consumption reduction.

Peroration

The application of titanium alloy in automobiles has had good results, but it is currently used in racing cars and sports cars. The high price and high manufacturing cost are the fundamental reasons why titanium alloys cannot be widely used in family motorhomes. Therefore, the development of low-cost titanium alloy is an important key to the practical application of titanium alloy, the following points are the future development and application direction of titanium alloy parts:

1) Replace the important added elements in titanium alloys such as V, Mo and Nb with low-cost added elements.

2) Development of free-cutting titanium alloys.

3) Improve the method of manufacturing Titanium Powder.

4) The use of continuous casting to produce small-diameter titanium rods or plates can reduce the use of manpower and energy and reduce costs.

5) The use of near net casting technology or near net powder metallurgy process to develop low-cost titanium alloys.

China is vigorously developing the promotion of automotive titanium. Titanium is gradually associated with automobiles to promote the application of titanium in automobiles. Automotive titanium research has been carried out, such as powder metallurgy titanium and TiAl research. The high price of titanium alloy is mainly subject to the current smelting and processing technology, and titanium is second only to aluminum, iron and magnesium in the crust, ranking fourth. Due to the continuous development and application of titanium alloy industry in civilian products, the output of titanium alloy, especially Titanium Seamless Tube, Ti Pipe is also increasing year by year, the research and development of titanium alloy technology will be further strengthened, and the reduction of titanium smelting and processing costs is also an inevitable trend. Because titanium alloy in the realization of automotive lightweight, low fuel consumption and high performance, global energy-saving emission reduction requirements, new energy vehicle cover development, simplification of manufacturing process internal cost reduction, is the future trend of automotive development, so titanium alloy will occupy an important position in the automotive industry, is widely used. The application of titanium alloy parts in ordinary household automobiles will be widely used in the near future.