Materials and applications of titanium spring
Grades: Grade 5 and Beta C, which is used extensively in the aerospace industry.
Applications: Primarily aerospace including springs for airplane controls and landing gear. Also used for military and automotive applications. Other uses include implantable medical devices and compensator springs for oil and gas applications.
Benefits of Titanium Spring
- Weight Reduction
The most widely recognized reason to use titanium over steel in a spring application is to lower the overall weight of the end product. Titanium springs can routinely weigh anywhere from 40-60% less than a steel spring used in the same application. - Free Length / Pitch Angle
While most of the weight reduction from using titanium is built into the weight properties of the material itself, the lower torsion modulus of titanium also makes it possible to achieve the same load capacity in a shorter spring design by allowing for a steeper pitch angle on each coil. - Corrosion Resistance
The basic metallurgical properties of titanium allow for a greatly improved resistance to corrosion, thus eliminating the need for costly plating and painting operations that are typically added to alloy steel spring designs. - Processing
While titanium springs are different from traditional steel springs in many ways, it is possible to employ similar post production shot-peening and heat treatment processes to provide greater strength and increase the fatigue life of a titanium spring design.