Defence
Why choose titanium ?
The sector of defence is an important market for titanium. All fields are concerned: aviation, naval, missiles, land armament. The use of titanium as an armouring material has become increasingly common in armaments due to a weight saving of 40% compared to steel plates.
Thanks to its high mechanical characteristics, non-magnetic properties and excellent resistance in marine environments, titanium is also increasingly used on parts of the submarine such as the hull or heat exchangers.
In the defence industry, it is usually found in the form of thick TA6V (Ti6Al4V) Grade 5 titanium plates.
- Excellent resistance to erosion and corrosion
- High mechanical properties up to 600°C and good adhesion to coatings
- High electrical and thermal conductivity
- Lightness
- Amagnetic
Aerometals & Alloys, supplying the defence industry since 1993
Titanium has excellent characteristics and is of great interest in the use of armoured vehicles and tanks. Due to its high strength and weight savings of around 40% compared to steel, titanium is a material that is essential for the design of protective covers or castings for bonnets, wings and turrets.
Like armored vehicules, titanium is also used for military drones/UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) to protect them against ballistic fire, but also against the effect of corrosion when flying near the sea. In addition to its excellent characteristics, when titanium is designed by metal additive manufacturing (3D printing), it provides a more robust and lightweight ballistic protection for UAVs.
Titanium is particularly interesting for security and military applications as it offers a very good strength-to-weight ratio.
Titanium is increasingly used in the marine environment because of its excellent resistance to the corrosive effects that sea water can cause. TA6V (grade 5) titanium is mainly found in the form of plates and tubes within the structures of surface or submersible craft and heat exchangers of submarines.
In addition to being incorrodible and magnetically soft, titanium, aluminium and vanadium based alloys can have the advantage of being 1.8 times lighter than alloy steels. Such characteristics offer titanium-hulled submarines a total and operational submersion superior to that of steel-hulled submarines.
Missile parts such as cylinder rods, nozzles, attachment rings or combustion chambers are made from high-strength metals (stainless steel and titanium).
In addition, in the design of the heat shields of missiles, we find shape memory metals, made from titanium and nickel, capable of returning to their original shape after deformation.
