ANSI B36.1 Titanium Tubes

Product Information for Titanium Tubes:

Material Composition:

Titanium tubes are primarily made from grades such as Grade 1 (CP Ti), Grade 2 (CP Ti), Grade 5 (Ti-6Al-4V), and Grade 7 (Ti-0.2Pd).

Dimensions and Sizes:

Outer Diameter (OD): Ranges typically from 1/8 inch to 12 inches or more, depending on the application.

Wall Thickness: Varies based on the OD and specific requirements of the application.

Length: Custom lengths are available, usually in standard cut lengths or specific customer requirements.

Manufacturing Standards:

ASTM B338: Standard specification for seamless and welded titanium and titanium alloy tubes for condensers and heat exchangers.

ASTM B861: Standard specification for titanium and titanium alloy seamless pipe.

Applications:

Aerospace: Titanium tubes are used in aircraft structural components, hydraulic systems, and heat exchangers.

Chemical Processing: Due to corrosion resistance, titanium tubes are essential for handling corrosive chemicals.

Medical: Titanium tubes are used in medical devices such as prosthetics and surgical implants due to biocompatibility and strength.

Testing and Certification:

Tubes are tested to ensure they meet specified mechanical properties, dimensional tolerances, and corrosion resistance requirements.

Certifications typically include compliance with ASTM standards and may include material test reports (MTRs) to verify chemical composition and mechanical properties.

Titanium Grades Specifications:

Grade 1 Titanium: Known for its high ductility, grade 1 titanium is the softest and most formable of all the commercially pure titanium grades. It's mostly used in applications that require superior corrosion resistance in environments such as the chemical processing industry.

Grade 2 Titanium: This is the most widely used titanium grade. It offers a good balance between strength and ductility, with excellent corrosion resistance. It is used in a broad range of applications, including flanges for piping systems.

Grade 5 Titanium (Ti 6Al-4V): This is an alloyed grade and the most commonly used of all titanium alloys. It significantly increases the strength of the flanges compared to pure titanium grades. Grade 5 titanium is used in high-strength applications where both heat and corrosion resistance are required.

Grade 7 Titanium: Featuring excellent weldability and fabricability, this grade includes palladium for enhanced corrosion resistance, particularly against reducing acids and localized attack in hot halides.

Grade 12 Titanium: This grade offers enhanced heat resistance and strength compared to other commercially pure grades. It also maintains good weldability and corrosion resistance.

Grade 23 Titanium (Ti 6Al-4V ELI): This grade is similar to Grade 5 but has extra low interstitials (ELI), making it preferable for higher fracture toughness and improved ductility. It's often used in medical applications and also suitable for flanges in critical, high-end applications.

Chemical Requirements of ANSI B36.1 Titanium Tubes:

Mechanical Properties of ANSI B36.1 Titanium Tubes:

Detailed Images of ANSI B36.1 Titanium Tubes:

Some Advantages and Disadvantages to Consider About Titanium Tubes

1. Desirable properties of titanium tubes

Titanium tubing is often used for its excellent chemical resistance, which is much higher than stainless steel grade 304 or even 316.

As a high-strength, lightweight material with high corrosion resistance, titanium offers a high strength-to-weight ratio, making it ideal for a variety of pipe applications. For example, metal cutting uses titanium to create a variety of parts, including:

Small Diameter Fillet Tubes for Automotive Applications

Small round titanium tube for seed shells in brachytherapy.

Thin-walled titanium tubes for chemically active vessel housings in life sciences

Titanium tubing can also be used in analytical instruments such as chromatography and other tubing must:

Resist repeated exposure

Does not interact with many different types of chemicals and other substances

Another advantage of titanium tubing in medical devices is its biocompatibility. Not only is the human body tolerant to the use of titanium (which is important enough), but it is also non-magnetic - an increasing trend as the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in medical diagnosis becomes more common. more important features.

From temporarily placed heart needles to (hopefully) permanent bone and joint replacements, MRI compatibility is important for any medical device inserted or implanted in the body for any length of time, and micromagnetic materials can be dangerous.

Otherwise, what should be a non-invasive diagnostic test could cause the metal device to come off the body. Needless to say, this was not a good result!

2. There are various grades and formulations of titanium tubes

Another advantage of titanium is that just as there are different types of stainless steel, there are many different grades of titanium tube.

For example, ASTM has several standards (mainly B265, B348 and B381) related to the "formulation" of titanium grades used in different applications. If you look at the specs, you'll find that there are even multiple grades of unalloyed titanium.

The most common commercially available titanium alloy grade 5 has high strength and toughness. Unlike pure titanium, grade 5 titanium is heat treatable and can be welded and fabricated for tubing and other uses in aerospace, marine, chemical and medical applications.

3. Titanium tube with shape memory function

For applications that require shape memory, you may also consider titanium tubing available in Nitinol or NiTi (also known as Nitinol), which is its own separate product category.

While in theory the material is a 50/50 mixture of nickel and titanium, NiTi is anything but. In fact, NiTi is always a custom blend, there are no ASTM specifications, and each manufacturer has its own unique proprietary formulation.

NiTi is commonly used in the production of medical tubing that requires a high degree of flexibility and kink resistance, such as catheter guide wires, stents, and superelastic needles for microsurgery. The material also has excellent corrosion resistance when handled properly.

4. Challenges of working with titanium

Of course, no material is suitable for all applications, and titanium is no exception.

Comparison with stainless steel

One of the difficulties is that the material is more brittle and harder to draw than stainless steel. This makes titanium more difficult to work with.

Although titanium can be drawn into tubes, the process does not produce the smooth surface that can be produced when drawing stainless steel. Some companies can draw titanium to Ra 8-10 microinches; however, stainless steel can be drawn to smoother Ra 3-4 microinches or better.

Thicker inner diameters on titanium tubes can have an impact on the microfluidic properties of any liquid that needs to pass through the tube. This can be a problem in applications where the smooth flow of liquids is particularly important.

For most medical device applications, the tubes will carry blood and other bodily fluids, which is not a problem. However, turbulence is a serious problem in applications where the pipes must carry tiny fluid volumes.

Machinability of Titanium Tubes

As a more brittle, less forgiving material, titanium is also more difficult to machine. The more work you do with the titanium to get the final product, the more likely you are to have chipping and other surface roughness issues.

The machining of titanium also requires more coolant than other materials. High-pressure coolant must be delivered precisely to the machining location from multiple nozzles and angles to fill the area with coolant.

In addition, titanium is rarely used for joints of pipes. In fact, especially for medical devices - where extensive machining is required at the connection point to create flares, swabbing and threads - metals of any kind represent only a very small portion of the fittings market.

Conversely, fittings for medical devices more often use high-durability PEEK (polyetheretherketone) or other specialty plastics that can be more easily molded and machined.

5. The cost of titanium tube

Considering the pros and cons, the cost of the titanium tube must also be considered.

Historically, only a few smaller suppliers have produced titanium tubes because titanium is not used as often as materials such as stainless steel. Additionally, it has fewer standard sizes and requires longer lead times to produce custom sizes, which in turn increases costs.

So titanium tube is a material, and if you're going to specify it, you'd better be sure you really need it -- not something you pick at random.

Here's an extra tip: From a practicality standpoint, when titanium is required for the final product, companies often prototype product designs out of another, cheaper metal to test feasibility and functionality. If the initial test validates the design, it can be retested with titanium.

With so many titanium tube options, it's critical to always specify the specific type and grade you want (whether it's pure titanium, one of several alloys, or a NiTi formulation) to optimize your product's manufacturability.

(Learn more about Optimizing Manufacturability in Small Parts Sourcing.)

6. Titanium tube cutting expert

If it's the right material for your specific tubing application, you can be sure Metal Cutting knows how to cut titanium. In fact, we can cut, machine or finish any type and grade of titanium tubing you may need.

We routinely cut, grind, grind and polish tubes as short as 0.006" (0.152mm) in length, thin wall thicknesses or as small as 0.001" (0.025mm) inside diameter - any metal including titanium. (We like to say that if the diameter can be drawn, we can use it.)

We can also precisely cut coated tubing without damaging the coating, while maintaining concentricity and a clean inner diameter. In addition to titanium cuts, we can also customize tubes with features such as angled cuts, grooves, points and holes.