Applications of Titanium Alloy in the Automobile Industry

Titanium has the advantages of low density, high specific strength, and good corrosion resistance. Titanium used in automobiles can greatly reduce the quality of the body, reduce fuel consumption, improve the working efficiency of the engine, improve the environment, and reduce noise. However, the expensive price of titanium alloy in the automotive industry can only have some applications in luxury cars and sports cars, rarely used in ordinary cars.

Titanium Alloy

Therefore, research and development of low-cost titanium alloy to meet the needs of the market is the key to promoting its application in the common home car.

Titanium Alloy Parts Currently Has The Following Uses:

1. Engine Connecting Rod

Titanium is ideal for connecting rods. The engine made of titanium alloy connecting rods can effectively reduce engine quality, improve fuel efficiency, and reduce emissions. Compared to the steel connecting rod, titanium link can reduce the quality by 15% to 20%.

The application of the titanium alloy link was first demonstrated on the new Italian Ferrari sedan 3.5LV8 and the Acura NSX engine. Ti-6Al-4V, Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al, Ti-3Al-2V, and Ti-4Al-4Mo-Sn-0.5Si are the main materials used for the titanium alloy connecting rod.

Titanium Alloy Parts

2. Engine Valve

Automotive engine valves made of titanium alloy not only reduce quality and extend service life but also reduce fuel consumption and increase vehicle reliability. Titanium valve compared with the steel valve, the quality can be reduced by 30% to 40%, and the engine speed limit can be increased by 20%. For the current application, the material of the intake valve is mainly Ti-6Al-4V, and the material of the exhaust valve is mainly Ti-6242S.

Usually, Sn and Al are added together to obtain lower brittleness and higher strength. Mo addition can improve the heat treatment of titanium alloys, strengthening the strength of quenching and aging titanium alloy, while increasing the hardness.

3. Valve Spring Seat

The valve spring seat must have performance such as high strength and fatigue resistance, beta-titanium alloy heat treatment alloy can obtain high strength by solution treatment aging, the corresponding more suitable materials are Ti-15V-3Cr- 3Al-3Sn and Ti-15Mo-3Al-2.7Nb-0.2Si.

Mitsubishi Motors uses Ti-22V-4Al titanium alloy valve spring seats in its large-scale production vehicles to reduce the mass by 42% compared with the original steel lock, the valve mechanism reduces the inertial mass by 6%, and the maximum engine speed increases by 300r / min.

Titanium Application

4. Titanium Spring

Titanium and its alloys have a lower modulus of elasticity relative to the steel material and a larger σs / E value, making it suitable for the manufacture of flexible elements. Compared with the steel automobile spring, under the premise of the same elastic work, the height of the titanium spring is only 40% of the steel spring, and the mass is only 30-40% of that of the steel spring, which is convenient for the body design.

In addition, titanium alloy's excellent fatigue properties and corrosion resistance can improve the service life of the spring. At present, titanium alloy materials that can be used to manufacture automotive springs are Ti-4.5Fe-6.8Mo-1.5Al and Ti-13V-11C-3Al.

5. Turbocharger

Turbochargers can improve the combustion efficiency of the engine and enhance the power and torque of the engine. Turbocharger turbine rotors need long-term work in the high-temperature exhaust gas above 850 ℃, so require good heat resistance. Traditional light metals, such as aluminum, cannot be used because of their low melting point.

Although ceramic materials are used on turbine rotors due to their lightweight and high-temperature resistance, their application is limited due to their high cost and unspecified shape. To solve these problems, Tetsui developed the TiAl turbine rotor. After several experiments, it not only has good durability and performance but also improved engine acceleration. This design has been successfully commercialized on the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution line of vehicles.

6. Exhaust System And Muffler

The titanium rod is heavily used in the exhaust system of a car. Exhaust systems made of titanium and its alloys not only increase reliability, extend life and improve appearance but also reduce quality and fuel burn efficiency.

Compared with the steel exhaust system, the quality of the titanium exhaust system can be reduced by about 40%. In the Golf series of cars, the titanium exhaust system can reduce the quality by 7 ~ 9kg, the exhaust system mainly used pure industrial titanium.

Titanium Alloy Car

7. Body Frame Part

In order to improve the safety and reliability of vehicles, consideration needs to be given to the design and manufacture, especially the manufacturing of materials. Titanium is a very good material for making bodywork frames, which not only have high strength but also have good toughness.

In Japan, automakers chose pure titanium welded pipe to make a body frame that would give motorists enough safety when driving.

8. Other Titanium Parts

In addition to the above components, titanium is also used in engine rockers, suspension springs, engine piston pins, automotive fasteners, hanging ears nuts, car door into the beam, car stop brackets, brake caliper pistons, pin bolts, pressure boards, speed buttons, and automotive clutch disc and other automotive parts.

Conclusion 

Thank you for reading our article and we hope it can help you have a better understanding of the applications of titanium alloy in the automobile industry. If you want to know more about titanium alloy and other refractory metals, we advise you to visit Advanced Refractory Metals (ARM) for more information. Headquartered in Lake Forest, California, USA, Advanced Refractory Metals (ARM) is a leading manufacturer & supplier of refractory metals across the world. We provide customers with high-quality refractory metal products like tungsten, molybdenum, tantalum, rhenium, titanium, and zirconium at a very competitive price