Introduction
Sponge titanium is a titanium-based brittle material with a large specific surface area. It is a nano-material with a lacy or foam-like structure. Sponge titanium is a promising material for engineering application due to its light weight, good strength and wear resistance, high temperature resistance and corrosion resistance characteristics. It has a wide range of applications in fields such as aerospace, military, energy, automobile and shipbuilding industry. Compared with traditional metal materials, sponge titanium has higher strength to weight ratio and superior chemical stability, and can save a lot of materials and weight.
The most common and reliable method for producing sponge titanium is sodium thermal reduction. This method has many advantages, such as low cost, high production efficiency, low energy consumption and wide raw material adaptability. This paper mainly focuses on the production process of sponge titanium by sodium thermal reduction and the application of sponge titanium.
Production process
Sodium thermal reduction method is mainly used for producing spongy titanium material. In this method, titanium tetrachloride and sodium metal are used as the raw materials. The chemical reaction for sodium thermal reduction method is as follows:
TiCl4 + 4Na→Ti + 4NaCl
First of all, titanium tetrachloride is obtained from titanium ore by the chlorination method. Then, the titanium tetrachloride is heated and vaporized in a reaction furnace, and sodium metal is added as the reducing agent. At high temperatures, the sodium metal reduce titanium tetrachloride to produce titanium and sodium chloride.
The reaction is conducted in a nitrogen or argon atmosphere to reduce the oxidation of the titanium metal during the reaction process. To further improve the purity of sponge titanium, the titanium sponge can be melted and cast in a vacuum or argon atmosphere, and various alloying elements can be added. After the alloying, the molten alloy is cooled and solidified in a mould, and then the reaction product is broken up and sieved to obtain the sponge titanium powder of a certain particle size.
After that, the sponge titanium powder is subjected to uniaxial pressing and remolded to obtain a titanium material with a solid single-layer network structure. This process can improve the compaction density of the material and make it more suitable for practical application. Generally, the pressing pressure should not be too high, otherwise the sponge titanium material will be damaged.
Application of sponge titanium
Sponge titanium has a wide range of applications in aviation, automobile, defense and other fields. When used in aerospace, the relatively small size and large specific surface area of the sponge titanium material can improve the gas flow rate around the aircraft, reduce the drag force and improve the speed and fuel economy of the aircraft. In automobile and shipbuilding industry, sponge titanium material can be used to make components such as suspension spring and parts for air conditioning system. In the defense industry, sponge titanium material can be used to make bulletproof vests, helmets, armors and other parts.
Conclusion
In conclusion, sponge titanium material has a low density and high specific strength, and has superior chemical, electrical, magnetic and optical properties, making it the ideal material for aerospace, automobile and defense industry. In addition, the production of sponge titanium material by sodium thermal reduction method has low cost, high efficiency, low energy consumption and wide raw material adaptability, which makes it more suitable for mass production. Therefore, sponge titanium material is widely used in many fields, and is likely to be more widely used in the future.
