Introduction To Titanium Plates And Titanium Alloy Plates That Are Not Common In Buildings

Basic knowledge of titanium metal

The element titanium (Titanium) was first discovered by British scientist Gregor in ilmenite in 1791. Later, German chemist Klaprus also discovered it from rutile in 1795 and named it “titanium”. However, due to the extremely high chemical activity of titanium, the refining process is quite difficult. It was not until 1910 that American scientist Hunter successfully extracted pure titanium for the first time through sodium reduction. In 1940, Luxembourg scientist Kroll further adopted the magnesium reduction method and successfully produced sponge titanium, thus laying a solid foundation for the large-scale industrial production of titanium.

It is worth mentioning that the reserves of titanium in the earth’s crust are considerable. It ranks fourth, second only to iron, aluminum, and magnesium, and its reserves far exceed the sum of commonly used metals copper, nickel, lead, and zinc. In industry, ores such as rutile, white titanium ore, perovskite, and ilmenite are widely used to produce titanium.

In addition, titanium metal also has many excellent properties. From the appearance, it is silver-gray, similar to steel, but its performance is better than ordinary metals.

① Titanium metal has low density and high strength, which is very suitable for the needs of lightweight construction. Its density is 4.54g/cm3, which is only 56% of ordinary structural steel, but its strength is equivalent or higher. Among metal structural materials, titanium’s specific strength (that is, the ratio of material strength to density) ranks among the best. In addition, adding a small amount of titanium to the alloy can significantly improve its performance.

② Titanium can react quickly with oxygen in the natural environment to form a strong oxide film, which gives it excellent corrosion resistance. This oxide film can remain stable in oxidizing acids, alkalis, and salt media, especially in wet chlorine and seawater, where its corrosion resistance is even better. Therefore, titanium is very suitable for harsh environments such as seaside, acid rain and volcanic areas.

③ Titanium’s expansion coefficient is about half that of stainless steel and copper, which makes it less stress when the temperature changes. Therefore, it is very suitable for use in environments with large temperature changes, such as the roof of a building.

④Titanium is a non-combustible material with a melting point of up to 1660℃ and can withstand a high temperature of 1100℃ in a fire. In addition, titanium alloys also have excellent thermal strength, which is far superior to aluminum alloys.

⑤Titanium has excellent toughness and fatigue resistance, as well as good welding and low-temperature properties. Even at a low temperature of -196℃, it will not be brittle, making it very suitable for structural applications under special conditions.

⑥ Among metals, titanium has excellent thermal insulation properties, and its thermal conductivity is only about one-tenth of that of aluminum.

⑦ Some titanium alloys also have special functions such as superconductivity, memory, and hydrogen storage.

In summary, due to the excellent properties of titanium, it is widely used in many fields such as military industry, aerospace, ships, and petrochemicals. Titanium, known as the “space metal” and the “third metal”, has developed so fast that it has even surpassed other non-ferrous metals.

In practical applications, titanium plates are often formed into titanium alloy plates of different grades by adding specific alloying elements. These titanium alloy plates are widely used in the construction field, especially in the exterior skin of buildings. Due to the excellent properties of titanium, it is often used as a building wall and roof material in various environments, among which roof applications are the most common, accounting for up to 60%, while exterior wall applications account for 30%.

The history of titanium application in construction can be traced back to Japan, which began to use titanium as a building material 30 years ago. As the country with the largest titanium consumption, the United States mainly uses titanium in the aerospace field, but in recent years it has gradually expanded to the civilian field. At the same time, titanium used in European construction has also shown a rapid development momentum, and many countries have formulated titanium plans for construction.

Despite this, the use of titanium plates in construction is still relatively small. It is worth noting that the commonly said “titanium zinc plate” is different from the “titanium plate”. The “titanium zinc plate” is just a zinc alloy plate with a trace amount of titanium added, while the “titanium plate” is mainly titanium with only a very small amount of other elements added. Therefore, in terms of naming, we prefer to use “zinc plate” rather than “titanium zinc plate” to refer to this type of zinc alloy plate.

It is worth mentioning that the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain is the leader among all buildings with titanium as the main finishing material. The walls and roofs of the museum are covered with 0.3~0.4mm thick titanium plates, with a total area of ​​32,000m2 and a weight of about 80 tons. This special metallic luster and uneven metal wrinkles, coupled with the free block design, make the museum a striking landscape.

The Bilbao Museum in Spain, built by architect Frank Gehry, has attracted countless tourists with its unique charm since its completion in 1997. The walls and roofs of the museum are covered with titanium plates as thin as cicada wings. These titanium plates not only give the building a metallic luster, but also show its toughness and durability over the years. The concave and convex texture of the titanium plate and the free block design complement each other, forming this unforgettable landscape.

The typical flat-jointed structure of metal sheets has a thickness of only 0.3-0.4mm, which is as thin as paper and presents a natural wrinkled state. This unintentional wrinkle adds a unique human touch to the building, making the handmade effect more distinct.

The Glasgow Science Museum in the UK, which was completed in January 2001, was designed by BDP Architects. The museum’s notable feature is its typical flat-jointed structure of metal sheets, which uses tile-shaped square and rectangular plates in different proportions to form two unique surface textures. This structure not only highlights the unique beauty of metal materials, but also shows the excellent corrosion resistance of titanium plates in long-term use. After more than ten years of wind and rain, except for a few stains, its surface remains as bright as new, in sharp contrast to the natural aging of other metal sheets.

Although the current smelting cost of titanium is still relatively high, resulting in its price being about twice that of stainless steel, titanium still has significant advantages in the application of construction after comprehensively considering its excellent corrosion resistance, high strength, lightweight characteristics and long service life. For example, according to the calculation of 0.4mm thick plate, considering factors such as structural folding, its domestic quotation is only about 200 yuan per kilogram, and the cost per square meter is about 500 yuan, which is even more economical than 0.7mm thick zinc plate.

In order to further promote the application of titanium in the construction field, a more economical and efficient method is to use a composite plate of titanium and other metals. This composite plate not only inherits the corrosion resistance of titanium, but also has the rigidity of ordinary thickness metal plates, thus achieving a good balance in terms of cost performance. For example, the outer layer of the roof of my country’s National Grand Theater uses a titanium-stainless steel composite plate with an area of ​​30,000 square meters, and the manufacturer has promised a shelf life of up to 100 years. This practice has undoubtedly set an example for the application and promotion of titanium metal in the construction field in my country.

The roof of the National Grand Theater under construction is covered with titanium-stainless steel composite panels. The double-layer design makes the roof more stable and durable. This double-layer design is not uncommon in the field of architecture, but the National Grand Theater adopts this design, which not only highlights its unique aesthetic value, but also significantly improves its practicality. The double-layer design makes the roof more resistant to wind and rain erosion, thus ensuring the safety and stability of the building. At the same time, this design also provides strong support for the application and promotion of the National Grand Theater in the field of architecture.

The silver-white spherical roof of the National Grand Theater designed by Paul Andrew is eye-catching. In recent years, there are many titanium processing plants in China, and all kinds of titanium alloy plates are available. Although the differences between them are subtle, as a building exterior skin material, its requirements are not as strict as those in the military and industrial fields. If you are interested in titanium plates, you may wish to contact professional manufacturers for in-depth understanding. With the continuous advancement of smelting technology, it is expected that the production cost of titanium will gradually decrease in the future. By then, it will be widely integrated into our daily lives like stainless steel, copper, aluminum and other metals.

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