Materials and Design 32 (2011) 1684–1691

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Materials and Design

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Technical Report

Titanium alloy production technology, market prospects and industry development

Cui Chunxiang ⇑, Hu BaoMin, Zhao Lichen, Liu Shuangjin
Key Lab. for New Type of Functional Materials in Hebei Province, Hebei University of Technology, No. 8, Road No. 1, Dingzigu, Hongqiao District, Tianjin 300130, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Titanium alloy with a low density, high specific strength, corrosion resistance and good process perfor-
Received 18 April 2010 mance, is the ideal structural materials for the aerospace engineering. Based on the microstructure of tita-
Accepted 7 September 2010 nium alloys, it can be divided into a-type titanium alloys (heat-resistant titanium alloys), b-type titanium
Available online 15 September 2010
alloys and a + b-type titanium alloys. The research scopes also include the fabrication technology of tita-
nium alloys, powder metallurgy, rapid solidification technology, and other military and civilian applica-
tions of titanium alloys. Titanium and its alloys have become the ideal structural materials used for the
fuselage, and accounted for a significant part of the structural quality in most military aircrafts. Tita-
nium’s future market expectations need to be considered in the macro level market. Apart from the sup-
ply and demand trends of titanium market, it is necessary to consider the impact of technological
innovations that can help to reduce the cost of titanium production.
Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction structural weight. The application level of titanium in the chemical

Titanium element as a matrix by adding other elements is
known as titanium alloy. Titanium is a new structural material,
which has excellent comprehensive properties, such as the low
density (4.5 g/cm3), a high specific strength and fracture tough-
ness, fatigue strength and resistance to crack propagation, good
low-temperature toughness and excellent corrosion resistance.
Some titanium alloys’ maximum working temperature is about
550 °C, and expected to reach 700 °C [1]. Therefore, titanium alloys
has been increasingly widely used in aviation, aerospace, chemical,
shipbuilding and other industrial departments [2]. Compared with
light alloys and steel, etc., as for the relationship between specific
yield strength and density (r0.2/density), titanium alloys is higher
than other light metals, steel and nickel alloys, and this advantage
will be maintained until about 500 °C, so some titanium alloys
suitable for the manufacture of gas turbine engine components
[3]. Titanium production in about 80% is for aviation and aerospace
industry. For example, in the United States, titanium is approxi-
mately 21% of B-1 bomber’s body structure material, mainly for
the manufacture of the fuselage, wings, skins and load-bearing
component. For the F-15 fighter structural materials, titanium
alloys occupy a capacity of 7000 kg, which is about 34% structural
weight of the airframe [4]. For Boeing 757 aircraft structural parts,
titanium alloy with a capacity of 3640 kg is 5% of structural weight.
As for DC10 aircraft produced by Mc-Donnell–DounLas, used tita-
nium alloys reached 5500 kg, accounting for more than 10% of its
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 22 60204125; fax: +86 22 26564125.
E-mail address: hutcui@hebut.edu.cn (C. Cui).
URL: http://www.hebut.edu.cn (C. Cui).
and general engineering fields accounts for about 15% of its pro-
duction in USA [4,5]. Titanium and its alloys, due to their excellent
corrosion resistance, good mechanical properties as well as histo-
compatibility, are qualified for the production of prosthetic devices
and other biological materials [6–8].
Titanium with a low density of 4.5 g/cm3 is only 60% of iron’s
density, usually with aluminum and magnesium is known as the
light metals. Many countries in the world recognize the impor-
tance of titanium alloy materials, so titanium alloy materials are
being on the research and developing, and supported by practical
application [5,9,10].
Titanium and titanium alloy, as important structural metals and
alloys, were developed in the 50s of twentieth century. Titanium
alloys are provided with a high specific strength, good corrosion
resistance, high heat resistance, easy soldering and other charac-
teristics, so which has been widely used in various fields [11]. In
particular, titanium alloys are conducive to the manufacture of golf
club head because of their characteristics of high strength and easy
welding performance.
The first practical titanium alloy ‘‘Ti–6Al–4V alloy” was success-
fully developed in 1954 in the United States. The properties of Ti–
6Al–4V alloy in heat resistance, strength, plasticity, toughness,
formability, weld-ability, corrosion resistance and biocompatibility
are up to a better level. Ti–6Al–4V titanium alloy’s consumption
accounted for the 75–85% of all kinds of titanium alloys. Many
other titanium alloys can be regarded as Ti–6Al–4V alloy modified.
At present, hundreds of kinds of titanium alloys have been devel-
oped in the world, and the most famous alloys are 20–30 types.
For example, there are Ti–6Al–4V, Ti–5Al–2.5Sn, Ti–2Al–2.5Zr,
Ti–32Mo, Ti–Mo–Ni, Ti–Pd, Ti-811, Ti-6242, Ti-1023, Ti-10-5-3,

0261-3069/$ - see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.matdes.2010.09.011
 C. Cui et al. / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 1684–1691 1685

Table 1
Categories and characteristics of the typical titanium alloys [1].

Categories Typical alloys Characteristics

a Ti–5Al–2.5Sn Ti–6Al–2Sn–4Zr– The general strength and toughness, good welding performance. Strong anti-oxidant, higher creep strength. Less used
2Mo in the manufacture of golf masthead
a+b Ti–6A1–4V Ti–6Al–2Sn–4Zr– The strength and toughness on the heat treatment can be strong, and with an excellent weld fatigue performance,
6Mo multi-applications such as iron casting masthead, fairway
b Ti–13V–11Cr–3Al Sp700 Ti– High strength, heat treatment, malleable and good cold forming performance, applicable to a variety of welding
15Ta–3Cr–3Al–3Ni methods
TixAl Ti3Al (a 2) & TiAl Desire to achieve 900-degree temperature, but poor toughness and plastic property at room temperature

Ti-1100, BT9, BT20, IMI829, IMI834, etc.; 10-2-3, SP700, 15-3-3-3
(known as b-Ti), 22-4 and DAT51 are used to produce the clubs
[1,12,13].
Titanium alloys can be divided into a, a + b, b-type alloys
and Ti–Al intermetallic compounds (TixAl, where x = 1 or 3). The
Table 1 lists the four categories based on the characteristics of
the typical titanium alloys.
2. The future market expectations of titanium alloys and its
main raw materials
Titanium sponge is the main raw material of titanium and tita-
nium alloy. During 2003–2006, the price of titanium was increased
at an unprecedented rate. Government and industry observers said
that this was occurring after World War II steel shortage, global
material supplies worried for the first time to affect the defense
sector; they also pointed out that the shortage of titanium could
also affect the military aircraft and weapons delivery time.
Although the titanium prices have been volatile over the years,
but the recent price spikes were far more than the previous price
fluctuations. Fig. 1 shows the US producer price index for finished
rolled titanium (Producer Price Index, PPI) changes in (the 1982 PPI
100) during 1971–2006 years [1,12,14].
Global titanium-producing corporations are mainly eight coun-
tries. For the ranking of production, they are the United States,
Russia, Japan, China, Britain, France, Germany and Italy. In recent
years, China, Japan and other Asian countries’economic growth,
especially with China as the core of the petrochemical industry,
military and other industries with the rapid growth in the amount
of titanium, the world titanium demand has been increasing rap-
idly. In 2006 and 2007 the world’s titanium production from the
previous year grew by 19.4% and 20%. The United States remains
the largest country in the world for the titanium demand [12,15].
The world’s major producing countries of titanium sponge capacity
from 2003 to 2007 and actual production forecast from 2008 to
2010 are shown in Fig. 2.
On the recent surge in demand, many of titanium metal produc-
ers announce that they have increased or will increase their tita-
nium sponge production capacity. Among them, China’s titanium
sponge producers have the most striking expansion of their tita-
nium sponge. Its production capacity got a rapid expansion from
9500 t/a in 2005 into 45,200 t/a in 2007, so the growth rate of
was up to 373%. Japan’s titanium sponge producers had expanded
production capacity in 2009 to get 52,000 t/a, compared with
37,000 t/a in 2005, so its increasing had been up 40%. By 2011,
Russia’s titanium sponge production capacity is expected to reach
44,000 t/a. The titanium sponge production capacity in USA had
been increased vehemently from 8940 t in 2005 to 20,200 t/a in
2007, and they plan to be up 41,970 t/a in 2010. Benefited from
the sharp increase of titanium, many of titanium producers cash
position is healthy, so they are able to carry out large-scale capital
investment plans.
If the above production capacity expansion program is pro-
gressing well, then, by the end of 2010, the global titanium sponge
capacity is expected to reach up to about 218,000 t/a, which is two
times of that in 2005 (113, 500 t/a). If the new titanium sponge
manufactories have fully production according to plan, by the
end of 2010, China is expected to become the second-largest tita-
nium producer in the world after Japan’s, and she may even exceed
Japan. That the titanium industry of China and the United States
would proceed smoothly and achieve the capacity expansion is
the focus of greatest concern. If the optimistic forecasts of demand
in the future become a reality, these positive expansion plans will
help to achieve a titanium metal market to supply and demand
balance. However, if future demand does not meet expectations,
they may cause serious market imbalance, of which, then China
as the world’s supply of titanium are most worthy of attention.

Fig. 1. The manufacturers’ price index of titanium mill products in America (1971–
2006). Fig. 2. Output of titanium sponge of main productive countries in 2003–2010.
1686 C. Cui et al. / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 1684–1691
China’s demand for a variety of metals and its capacity expansion
for the supply of titanium is a trump card in the near future, and
this situation is likely to continue, and it is mainly due to China’s
huge economy and its rapid, continuous growth. During 2003–
2005, China’s steel industry consumed a lot of titanium scrap and
sponge titanium, and pushed up their market price, and stimulated
a large number of titanium sponge plant in China’s development.
However, China’s steel demand growth coupled with a slight de-
cline in sponge titanium production capacity significantly en-
hanced the market to reverse the situation. So that the market
price of titanium sponge fell by nearly 50% in 2007. In view of this
market situation, analysts believe that China in 2010 after the
capacity expansion will be significantly slowed down. But in the
near future, China may be ready to restart production capacity
expansion plans, no one can rule out this possibility.
3. New titanium production technologies
At present, the refining, processing and production costs of tita-
nium remain a high situation, the processing costs per thousand
cubic feet titanium from the melting to the refining stage is five
times higher than aluminum; if titanium is made into ingots and
finished products produced, then the titanium cost is 10 times
higher than that of aluminum [15,16]. Titanium Sponge is the ex-
tract of the commercial pure material from titanium stone, tita-
nium ingot is made of titanium sponge, titanium scrap or a
combination of production; titanium rolled finished products, such
as titanium plate, titanium plate, titanium billet and titanium rods,
are made by the production process of titanium ingots such as roll-
ing and forging; titanium parts are finished by rolling through the
forging, extrusion, hot and cold forming, machining, casting and
secondary production process [3,4,13,14,16].
To sum up, titanium production process includes several
phases: refining into sponge titanium from a titanium ore complex,
titanium sponge melted and cast into a titanium ingots, titanium
ingot processed into finished rolling, rolling into a finished produc-
tion parts. Fig. 3 shows the various stages of production of titanium
production technology, in which the thick black font tag technol-
ogy is for the late-model technologies, and solid line represents
an already established production phase, and dotted line indicates
a potential manufacturing stage [3–5,12–17].
Fig. 3. The new production technologies of titanium.
3.1. Titanium powder metallurgy
3.1.1. Titanium powder metallurgy production techniques
Titanium powder metallurgy (P/M) is not a new technology,
more accurately; it is a completely different method of production
of titanium parts from other techniques: the production by powder
metallurgy parts is making use of the powders instead of sponge
titanium. As a mature technology, it has been widely applied to
other metals, but in the application of titanium metal is limited.
There are several ways for that powders are processed into compo-
nents: metal injection molding (MIM) is make use of adhesives to
bond powder together, and to remove the agglomerant in the heat-
ing process; direct powder rolling (DPR) can be indicated as fol-
lows: the powders are rolled into sheet material, and then
heated and sintered; hot isostatic pressing (HIP) casting process
is that the powders are pressurized, heated, and casted form in a
near net shape. All of these processes are mature, and is currently
used to produce a small amount of parts [2–7,12,14].
3.1.2. Technical advantage and market supply
Titanium powder metallurgy can be restricted in waste of en-
ergy and resource related with the traditional production, no
VAR (vacuum arc remelting), EBM (electron beam melting) or
PAM (plasma arc melting); powders can be directly rolled into
any shape or finished products, outputs more high. This process
also can produce near net shape parts and components, and reduce
traditional waste component production. This process is usually
accompanied by a few steps to improve the output of manufactur-
ing. However, the powder metallurgy indeed introduced some new
problems as follows. The first is the pollution control, and it will
pose a special challenge to air-metal, since any contamination
would lead to metal being improper to apply in aerospace compo-
nents, so it must be processed in a clean room environment. In
addition, the powder is still difficult to manufacture large compo-
nents, and these components accounted for an important part of
the aircraft to use titanium. Finally, the titanium powder is a flam-
mable, explosive material, which may deal with difficulties in the
fabrication of a large number of powders.
Although the powder is now a niche market, but the economy
appears the source of titanium powder will make these processes
very attractive. The high standards of the aircraft structure design
make titanium powder metallurgy difficult to appear in the
 C. Cui et al. / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 1684–1691
aviation market, so it may first appear in the military vehicle, and
its structure requires no less stringent. Although this does not di-
rectly affect the aviation market, it can reduce prices by reducing
the demand for titanium sponge. PM is most likely enter into the
aviation market as a new rolled production, for the finished prod-
ucts can be rolled out to market in the existing manufacturing
technology, and it can eventually be used to present the limited
application of the fuselage in near net shape casting and other
forms of production. The greatest impact to the introduction speed
of the powder metallurgy would be material certification, so the
costs and difficulties of certification process will result in aircraft
companies to try to avoid the use of powder metallurgy products,
unless they have important applications in other fields of history.
3.2. One time melting process
3.2.1. The production technology of one time melting process
The traditional production process of titanium alloys needs 2–3
times for VAR melting, it has become a standard in the application
for more than 50 years. Recent technological advances for the mul-
tiple melting are only one electron beam melting (EBM) or plasma
arc melting (PAM). Therefore, titanium alloys can be produced to
meet the majority of aerospace applications by the new technology
[2–7,12,16].
3.2.2. Technical advantage and market supply
One time melting process reduce the melting steps to increase
production, save time and energy at the same time. Compared with
conventional vacuum arc remelting (VAR), its production rate is
higher. A group of 3–7 t production of titanium requires more than
20–25 days by VAR melting twice, while the use of single EBM
melting method can produce more than 15 t of titanium within
14 days. EBM and PAM process can also make full use of small
pieces and waste materials with a low purity, which will promote
recovery of titanium demand. Although two kinds of processes are
more difficult to control the chemical composition of products, this
is just a small question. These advantages result in one time melt-
ing method is very suitable for mass production, although this pro-
cess is not suitable for small quantities of special alloys preparation
[4–7,13,14,17,18].
One melting method has achieved commercial application
which is unlikely to lead to little change occurred in the market.
Because this process requires a lot of capital investment of the
major titanium manufacturers, this process also only penetrate
slowly toward the market. However, because of the high market
price of titanium, manufacturers are expanding production capac-
ity, and one melting method is expected to become a new widely
used process in the near future [18–20]. For such a process, the big-
gest obstacle is still to get the certification. Boeing and TIMET had
carried through negotiations for the standards of one melting
materials for a number of years, but still failed to reach consensus,
and the two sides believed that they were not far away from an
agreement, which implied that the adoption of a single melting
method was more matter of time before. However, even a success-
ful promotion of one time melting, the customer may still not be
able to enjoy the cost in the short term decline, for the market
makers would save the cost of the next to be retained as extra prof-
it in short supply [19,20]. It may only occur after the market down-
turn, and that cost-cutting will transfer to the end user (including
aircraft manufacturers).
3.3. Solid freeform shape manufacturing
3.3.1. Free shape manufacturing production technology
Free shape manufacturing (FSM) is to use point heat source to
melt the titanium wires between the continuous layers, to make
1687
a complex three-dimensional parts. In addition, titanium powders
can also be used for the production of such components. Arcam
and AeroMet and many other companies have developed this tech-
nique, usually using electron beam or a laser beam as the heat
source [20].
3.3.2. Technical advantage and market prospects
Compared with the existing manufacturing technology, the
manufacturing rate of components made of these processes are
fast, which will result in energy waste less. Despite these advanta-
ges, costs of solid freeform manufacturing technology are still more
expensive than that of conventional techniques. This is mainly due
to factors such as labor and technology required. This technology
mainly is suitable for small parts’ manufacturing, which accounted
for only a small part of aeronautical materials, so limited the appli-
cation limits their cost-saving potential.
This technology was jointly developed by AeroMet Company,
the Boeing Company and the US Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency and it was applied in AeroMet Companies. As part
of the contract with Boeing, AeroMet Company carried out a num-
ber of wing components of F/A-18 fighter jets, and be able to certify
their production and use [9,19]. Although the AeroMet Company
had closed down in 2005, but experts believed that similar tech-
nology to produce parts for military aircraft had been applied
[4,19,21].
4. Improved technologies for titanium extraction and refining
process
4.1. Technical background and progress
Many researchers are going to find faster, less labor and energy
saving alternative processes for the Kroll process. University of
Cambridge, a subsidiary Metalysi (formerly known as FFC) process
developed by Cambridge was known as the ‘‘FFC Cambridge pro-
cess”. They used electrolysis to continuous production of titanium
sponge. International Titanium Powder (ITP) Corporation (on the
end of 2008 was the world’s leading manufacturer of titanium
dioxide Cristal Global acquisition) achieved a process developed
by Armstrong (Armstrong process) through a continuous low-
temperature reduction of titanium tetrachloride to produce
titanium powder. DuPont and MER Corporation developed MER
process of production by direct electrolytic deoxidization to pro-
duce titanium powders. Advanced Materials Group (ADMA Group)
developed a hydrogenation dehydrogenation process (HDH) to
produce titanium powders directly, using a modified Kroll process
with titanium scrap and other wastes as the raw materials. It is
worth noting that there are three kinds of technologies used in
the production of titanium powders in these four kinds of new tita-
nium extraction and refining process [4,13,14].
At present, annual production of titanium powders only is a tiny
fraction of titanium, which is produced using plasma rotating elec-
trode process (PREP) or gas atomization process (TGA)with a rolled
product feed system of atomization. Because titanium can only be
refined to produce, titanium powders are very expensive. So
titanium powders only are used for highly specialized applications,
such as medical implants. A way to produce titanium powder
directly from titanium ore will enable titanium powder much
cheaper than before; titanium powders also have the potential to
become an important part of the titanium market.
4.2. Technical advantage and market supply
All of these new processes can increase production, reduce en-
ergy consumption, labor and costs. Titanium powders’ production
1688 C. Cui et al. / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 1684–1691
process does not require new VAR (vacuum arc remelting), EBM
(electron beam melting) or PAM (plasma arc melting) to produce
the final parts, thereby eliminating the need for the existing pro-
cess steps and the corresponding number of important basic facil-
ities [5,14–16]. If these new processes improved by the new
technologies are applied successfully, the production rate of the
market will expand titanium supply to greatly shorten the delivery
time; Energy and labor power savings will be made of titanium
metal prices fallen, of course, to some extent, which depends on
the will of the producers. As matter of fact, the main challenges
to face for these technologies are how to facilitate their wide appli-
cation. In these new technologies as above-mentioned, only the
Cambridge process was developed, which was aided financially
by the major producers of titanium sponge. Compared to other
kinds production technologies of titanium powders used in the
production process, this technology makes the current production
process easier. In addition, if Cambridge method can be used in
powder metallurgy process, its energy saving results will be very
large. Titanium powders can directly enter into existing supply
chain as a substitute for titanium sponge, but this will negate most
of its potential, and because of the high cost of production of tita-
nium powders, which is not commercially feasible. As long as any
one of these new technologies is successful, it will completely
change the status quo that titanium production in the past decades
has been basing on the same technology, and a few markets lead-
ing by several companies. While the new extraction technology
can bring significant advantage for existing companies, or provide
Fig. 4. Schematic diagram of hard tissues in human body.
the basis for the emergence of new forces in the industry. However,
this advantage will require substantial investment in productive
capacity [4,13–15]. Kroll process may be the best for existing facil-
ities. If you want to take advantage of new technology, you need
for a comprehensive update. So that the new extraction technology
is important, but it takes some time to enter the market [16,17].
5. Fabrication technology and market of titanium and titanium
alloys as biomaterials
5.1. Fabrication and surface modification of titanium alloys as
biomaterials
Titanium alloy ingots as biomaterials can be carried out by vac-
uum induction furnace or magnetic suspension vacuum furnace by
melting and casting. The ingots were machined into many speci-
mens with any shape and size.
As biomaterials, titanium and its alloys are superior to many
materials such as stainless and pyrolytic carbon, in terms of
mechanical properties and biocompatibility. Titanium and its
alloys are widely used in biomedical devices and components,
especially as hard tissue replacements as well as in cardiac and car-
diovascular applications, because of their desirable properties,
such as relatively low modulus, good fatigue strength, formability,
machinability, corrosion resistance, and biocompatibility.
However, titanium and its alloys cannot meet all of the clinical
 C. Cui et al. / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 1684–1691
requirements. Therefore, in order to improve the biological, chem-
ical, and mechanical properties, surface modification is often per-
formed. The surface modification technologies pertaining to
titanium and its alloys includes mechanical treatment, thermal
spraying, sol–gel, chemical and electrochemical treatment, and
ion implantation from the perspective of biomedical engineering.
Recent work has shown that the wear resistance, corrosion resis-
tance, and biological properties of titanium and its alloys can be
improved selectively using the appropriate surface treatment tech-
niques while the desirable bulk attributes of the materials are re-
tained [22,23].
5.2. Wide range of applications and market of titanium alloys as hard
tissue replacements
A schematic diagram of hard tissues in a human body is shown
in Fig. 4. Hard tissues are often damaged due to accidents, aging,
and other causes. It is a common practice to surgically substitute
the damaged hard tissues with artificial replacements. Depending
on the regions in which the implants are inserted and the functions
to be provided, the requirements of different endoprosthetic mate-
rials are different.
Because of the aforementioned desirable properties, titanium
and its alloys are widely used as hard tissue replacements in arti-
ficial bones, joints, and dental implants. As a hard tissue replace-
ment, the low elastic modulus of titanium and its alloys is
generally viewed as a biomechanical advantage because the smal-
ler elastic modulus can result in smaller stress shielding. One of the
most common applications of titanium and its alloys is artificial
hip joints that consist of an articulating bearing (femoral head
and cup) and stem as depicted in Fig. 5. The articulating bearings
must be positioned in such a way that they can reproduce the nat-
ural movement inside the hip joints whereas secure positioning of
the femoral head in relation to the other components of the joint is
achieved using the stem as shown in Fig. 5. The hip stem is an-
chored permanently to the intramedullary canal of the femur.
The cup, which is the articulating partner of the femoral head, is
Fig. 5. Schematic diagram of artificial hip joint.
1689
used for fixation by reaming out the natural acetabulum to fit
the design. Titanium and its alloys are also often used in knee joint
replacements, which consist of a femoral component, tibial compo-
nent, and patella [22,23–28].
Titanium and its alloys are common in dental implants, which
can be classified as subperiosteal, transosteal, and endosseous
according to their position and shape. Subperiosteal implants con-
sist of a custom-cast framework resting on the bone surface be-
neath the mucoperiosteum. The prosthesis is secured on posts or
abutments that penetrate the mucosa into the oral cavity. Transo-
steal implants can only be placed in the frontal lower jaw while
endosseous implants can be placed in both the upper and lower
jaws via a mucoperiosteal incision. They are the most commonly
used implant types and can be used in almost any situations as sin-
gle implants to replace one missing tooth as well as in cases of par-
tial and total edentulism. The most commonly used endosseous
implants are root-forming analogs [22,23].
As mention as above, titanium and its alloys as biomaterials
have a very broad market prospects in the world.
6. Future demand for titanium
6.1. The demand of the industrial sectors
From 2007 to 2010, the industrial demand for titanium will be
expected to exceed global GDP growth rate and this increase will
mainly come from the wide application of the titanium in the
whole industrial sectors. For example, in recent years, the growth
in titanium demand of new titanium buyers, such as oil and gas
installations, automotive, heavy vehicles and medical equipment
industries, has been particularly impressive. From 2004 to 2006,
the growth of titanium demand was up to approximately 50%. Be-
cause of this remarkable growth, the industrial sector’s overall de-
mand for titanium in 2004–2006 was increased by 19%. Looking
ahead, while the growth rate of industrial applications of titanium
is expected to be slow, but industry experts predict that in 2009–
2010, it will continue to increase in the demand for titanium in
14–15% with an average annual compound growth rate (CAGR)
of about 4% [4,13,14].
6.2. The needs of commercial aviation
Based on the record commercial aircraft orders of Boeing and
Airbus in 2005 and 2006, for the next few years, commercial avia-
tion sectors are expected to be rapid growth in demand for tita-
nium. According to The Airline Monitor magazine data, the
aircraft deliveries will be provided by a rapid increase. In 2009–
2011, average annual compound growth rate may be about 9%,
and then slowed down, and it will rise once again in 2014, as
shown in Fig. 6. Titanium demand growth rate will be higher (an
average annual compound growth rate is about 22%), mainly due
to titanium content per aircraft in a significant increase; due to
the Boeing 777, 787, and Airbus 380 and other large passenger air-
craft’s orders for the high titanium content, titanium rapid growth
in demand mainly will be driven by the year 2010 and 2011, and
these three kinds of high titanium content of the aircrafts will ac-
count for Boeing and Airbus commercial aircraft for more than half
of the demand for titanium. In particular, for the Boeing 787, the
required titanium per aircraft procurement is approximately 91 t.
According to The Airline Monitor’s prediction, by 2010, the demand
for titanium for Boeing’s 787 will account for nearly 30% of tita-
nium total demand of all the Boeing and Airbus commercial air-
crafts [4,13,14].
1690 C. Cui et al. / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 1684–1691

Fig. 6. The delivered amount of planes and the demands for titanium in future.

6.3. Military requirements

Table 2
Cost–savings potential of new technologies.
With the continued growth in global military spending, military
weapons development and procurement to keep the lightweight, Classification Technologies Limit Feasibility Cost-saving
ability
flexible and direction, so the demand for titanium military will
continue to be increased in the future. C-17 and F-15 and other Armstrong Interim Low Low
US military aircraft, the existing projects will continue into 2010, process
Improved Cambridge Interim Low Low
while the F/A-18E/F and F-16 production is expected to continue technologies technology
into 2015; F-2 Raptor in 2003 at full speed production continued MER process Interim Low Low
to be made until 2009; F-35 began to slow production in 2008, LHD process Recent Low Low
and its pilot production is expected to be the first delivered in HIP casting Long- High High
term
2010; the next 20 years, F-35 production is expected to reach
PM Finished PM Long- High Medium
3500. However, the US military aircraft titanium demand is ex- term
pected to be significantly lower than that in 2005, mainly due to Near shape PM Long- Medium High
F-22 will be discontinued, while the F-35 will expand production term
until 2010. Assumed that between 2005 and 2010 the average an- One melting Arc melt Recent High Low
process
nual demand for commercial aircraft titanium compound annual Free preform Medium Medium Medium
growth rate be 22% (as described above), then the total demand manufacture term
air titanium (including commercial and military) over the same
period is estimated at an average compound annual growth rate
of about 15%. Table 1 shows the 2010 titanium demand forecast
[2,4,13]. in the future. As matter of fact, a combination of the two progresses
(Croll process improvement alternative technology, economically
viable development of powder metallurgy technology) will gener-
7. Cost-savings potential and market outlook of new ate a huge cost–savings potential. The use of other new technolo-
technologies gies to replace the current use can also produce cost savings. One
smelting refining technology can be slightly and gradually reduce
New titanium production technologies are of cost savings rela- production costs. Of all the new technologies, lower production
tive to all the current using processes. A manufacturing technology costs will be primarily through the processing of raw materials
may be able to save some parts of the production costs, but the and spare parts manufacturing process can reduce waste and im-
components may be used only aircraft in a small part of all the tita- prove production out to achieve [1,12,13]. Labor efficiencies will
nium. The industry technical experts discuss and give the results be able to save some costs, especially in the components manufac-
summarized in Table 2. turing process; energy conservation is very important, but only a
Although the improved extraction technology, the cost savings small fraction of the cost savings, the main focus lies in the initial
alone is limited, it can make powder metallurgy method econom- extraction and smelting processes. Emerging technology is ex-
ically feasible, which would generate the greater savings. At pres- pected to significantly reduce costs and open up new markets, such
ent, the titanium powder is very expensive, so new production as military ground vehicles, but it is unlikely to challenge the com-
technology is expected to let it cheaper than the titanium sponge mercial aviation market in the near future [18,19]. To affect the
 C. Cui et al. / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 1684–1691
cost of aircraft-grade titanium for these technologies also requires
a lot of years, but in the long run, these can be real progress in cost
savings and the reducing of the price of titanium. With the devel-
opment of society and economy, titanium and titanium alloys as
the new type of materials are expected to bring new product inno-
vation, which give rise to tremendous growth in demand for tita-
nium in the world [28–31].
Acknowledgments
This work supported by Key project of science and technology
support of Tianjin, No. 09ZCKFX03800, Narural science fund pro-
gram of Hebei Provence, No. E2009000102 and Doctorate fund of
the ministry of education in China, No. 20070080004.
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