Creation of functionality by ubiquitous elements in titanium alloys

Abstract

The cost of titanium (Ti) and its alloys is still much higher than the costs of steels and aluminum alloys; this has inhibited their widespread usage. It is necessary to reduce their cost in order to make Ti and its alloys common metallic materials, namely, ubiquitous titanium and its alloys for their widespread usage. One of the main reasons for their high cost is that they contain a large amount of high-cost rare metals. Therefore, it is imperative to conduct research and development for producing Ti alloys that utilize low-cost common metal elements such as Si, Al, Fe, Cu, and Sn and interstitial elements such as O, N, H, and C. In this paper, the effects of ubiquitous alloying elements such as interstitial elements, O, N, C, and H, and substitutional elements, Fe and Si, which have been generally treated as impurities on functionalities of titanium alloys are discussed. © 2011 The Japan Institute of Metals.