State Enterprise Scientific & Production Centre
Titan

Titanium and alloys on its base are unique structural materials which allow a significant improvement of new equipment performance. Due to high specific strength at preservation of sufficient ductility and considerable corrosion resistance, they have become widely applied in rocket and aircraft construction, power and chemical engineering, ship-building and production of medical equipment, sports and consumer goods.
State Enterprise «Scientific & Production Centre «Titan» of the E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine® (SE «SPC «Titan» of the E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute of the NAS of Ukraine®) was established in 1996, by the decision of academician Boris Evgenyevich Paton, Director of the E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute of the NAS of Ukraine, for pilot production trials of technologies and equipment in the field of electron beam melting of metals and alloys and their further introduction in enterprises of Ukraine, as well as with the purpose of intensification of research and development work in the field of titanium metallurgy under self-financing terms.

At present, industrial production of titanium alloy ingots by the method of electron beam cold-hearth melting (EBM) is organized in the facility of SE «SPC «Titan» of the E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute of the NAS of Ukraine® in equipment of 3000 tons total annual capacity. Company specialists continue working to create new titanium-based alloys, develop and manufacture locally-produced equipment and technology of melting ingots based on titanium and other metals by EBM method.
Established cooperative relationships with the specialized enterprises of Ukraine allow producing semi-finished products of various sizes from titanium and alloys on its base (forgings, rods, pipes) from the ingots of SE «SPC «Titan» of the E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute of the NAS of Ukraine® both for the needs of the industry of Ukraine, and for export.

B.E. Paton,
Academician of the NAS of Ukraine, Director of the E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute of the NAS of Ukraine

Equipment for electron beam melting

SE «SPC «Titan» of the E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute of the NAS of Ukraine® designed, manufactured and is currently operating six electron beam melting units, including:

• pilot-production electron beam unit for producing titanium ingots of up to 1.5 tons weight;
• two production electron beam units each of annual capacity of 500 tons of ingots of titanium and its alloys;
• specialized electron beam unit for producing ingots of up to 1100 mm diameter and up to 20 tons weight from uncrushed titanium sponge lumps with annual capacity of 1500 tons of ingots of titanium and its alloys;
• electron beam unit for glazing the surface of ingots of both round and rectangular cross-section;
• laboratory electron beam unit for performance of research work on development of new alloys based on titanium and other metals, as well as optimization of their production technology.



Electron beam unit UE-121





All-purpose electron beam unit UE-5810







Electron beam unit UE-208





Specialized electron beam unit UE-185 for ingot glazing





Specification of electron beam units

Parameter	UE-5812	UE-185M	UE-121	UE-5810	UE-208	UE-185
Set power, kVA	1800	1800	1500	5100	600	1200
Process power, kW	1500	1500	1200	3300	400	900
Accelerating voltage, kV	30	30	30	30	20	30
Number of EB guns, pcs	5	5	4	11	4	3
Dimensions of ingots, m: length, max diameter width to thickness	4 0.3-0.6 1.3x0.4	4 0.3-0.6 1.3x0.4	2.1 0.2-0.5 0.6x0.3	4 0.5-11 13x0.4	1.7 0.08-0.3 0.5x0.3	2.5 0.1-0.8 10x0.4

Electron beam guns Paton-300

Electron beam (EB) units are fitted with axial EB guns Paton-300 of 300 kW nominal power developed at the E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute of the NAS of Ukraine.
EB guns Paton 300 are electron beam heaters of axial type with tungsten cathode. Each gun is fitted with individual pumping down system which allows stabilization of EB gun operation under the conditions of intensive evolution of gases during ingot melting from initial charge materials.



Axial EB guns Paton-300



Specification of EB guns Paton-300 Parameter Value Rated power, kW 300 Accelerating voltage, kV 30 Maximum current, A 10 Angle of beam deflection from EB gun axis, deg 0-35 Overall dimensions, mm:   height 1217 diameter 340 along vacuum system flange 410 Weight, kg 170

Electron beam melting of titanium

SE «SPC «Titan» of the E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute of the NAS of Ukraine® developed and introduced into industrial production the technology of electron beam melting of ingots of unalloyed titanium of grades VT1-00, VT1-0, Gradel, Grade2, which is characterized by:
• ability to use as initial charge material both titanium sponge and lump wastes of titanium production, as well as prepared chips, and here the amount of wastes used in the charge can reach 100 %;
• elimination of expensive operation of consumable electrode compacting from the process cycle;
• guaranteed removal of refractory nonmetallic inclusions of both high and low density;
• production of structurally and chemically homogeneous titanium ingots of both round and rectangular cross-section from initial charge in one remelting cycle.



Remelting sponge titanium pellets into an ingot of 400 mm diameter of Grade 2





Remelting uncrushed sponge titanium blocks into an ingot of 1100 mm diameter of Grade 2



The following can be used as initial charge: titanium sponge of different fractions, pelletized titanium sponge, as well as titanium scrap and prepared chips.



Uncrushed blocks of Ti sponge





Crushed Ti sponge







Ti sponge pellets





Ti scrap



Electron beam melting of commercial titanium alloys



Remelting titanium scrap of VT3-1 grade into an ingot of 600 mm diameter





Producing slabs of 165x950x2500 mm size of titanium alloy PT-3V







Macrostructure of ingot of 400 mm diameter of titanium alloy H-6AMV in the transverse and longitudinal section


Fundamental studies conducted at the E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute of the NAS of Ukraine of the processes of alloy component evaporation from the melt in vacuum and ingot solidification at EBM allow
prediction of chemical composition and structure of produced ingots of titanium alloys, and enable producing ingots of guaranteed composition. Application of cold hearth allows avoiding penetration of refractory inclusions of high and low density into the produced ingots. SE «SPC «Ti- tan» of the E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute of the NAS of Ukraine® mastered the technology of producing ingots of titanium alloys for structural applications (3M, VT5, PT- 7M, PT-ZV, VT6, VT14, VT20, VT22, VT23, T110, etc.) and of high-temperature titanium-based alloys (VT5-1, VT3-1, VT8, VT9, VT25U, etc.).
Technology of electron beam melting allows producing titanium-based alloys with not more than 0.002 % hydrogen content and equiaxed fine grain, both in transverse and in longitudinal section of the ingot that increases technological ductility of metal during subsequent thermomechanical treatment and improves the uniformity of mechanical properties of produced semi-finished products.

Production of new titanium-based alloys



Macrostructure of an ingot of 400 mm diameter of titanium alloy T110


SE «SPC «Titan» of the E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute of the NAS of Ukraine® mastered the technology of producing new high-strength titanium alloy T110 (Ti-5Al-1Mo-1V—4Nb-2Fe-0.5Zr), developed at the E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute of the NAS of Ukraine. T110 titanium alloy features of high specific strength, by which it is not inferior to high-strength alloy VT22, and increased resistance to fatigue cracking and technological ductility, allow applying it as material for protective purposes in aircraft construction. By a number of service properties, for instance, by fatigue life, T110 alloy exceeds VT22 alloy characteristics by 15-20 %.

Mechanical properties of high-strength titanium alloys Alloy σ0,2,,MPa σa, MPa δ, % Ti-6Al-4V 795 860 10 Ti—10V-2Fe-3Al 1100 1170 6 BT22 990 1080 8 T110 1060 1100 15



Macrostructure of an ingot of 150 mm diameter of titanium aluminide Ti-44AI-5Nb-2Cr-1,5Zr-1B


SE «SPC «Titan» of the E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute of the NAS of Ukraine® gained extensive experience of producing ingots based on titanium aluminides (Ti₃AI, TiAl intermetallic compounds), which have high heat resistance, thermal stability and low specific weight, making them promising materials for application in aircraft engines and other aerospace engineering products. Developed EBM technology allows producing titanium aluminide ingots with additional alloying by refractory and rare-earth elements.



Titanium aluminide ingot of 150 mm diameter





Microstructure of Ti-44AI-5Nb-2Cr-1,5Zr-1B ingot






Mechanical properties of an alloy based on titanium aluminide produced by EBM Ti-44AI-5Nb-2Cr-1,5Zr-1B Compressive yield strength σ0,2 Compressive ultimate strength σ0,2, MPa Bending strength σt, MPa Modulus of elasticity E, GPa Testing temperature, °C 20 900 20 900 20 20 Cast alloy 1078 640 1660 1050 583 155

Electron beam glazing of ingot surface



Glazing of an ingot of a round cross-section





Glazed ingot of 1100 mm diameter







Appearance of titanium alloy ingots: a — with glazed surface; b — with machined surface; c — cast ingot


Machining is traditionally performed for ingots at different stages of metal processing. Amount of wastes is usually equal to 5-15 % of treated ingot weight. To reduce metal losses, the E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute of the NAS of Ukraine developed and introduced into production a technology of glazing by electron beams the side surface of ingots of both round and rectangular cross-section, instead of machining, and designed the respective equipment for its realization.
Technology of electron beam glazing of side surface of ingots allows removing surface defects without machining the ingot surface that increases metal yield up to 15 %, depending on ingot weight.




Glazing of an ingot of a rectangular cross-section





Glazed slab of 165x950x2000 mm





Control of ingot quality

Content of alloying elements in the ingots is determined by the method of inductively coupled plasma — optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) in ICP-spectrometer ICAP 6500 DUO of Thermo Electron Corporation.




ICP-spectrometer ICAP 6500 DUO





Gas analyzers RO-316, RH-2







UD4-76 instrument for ultrasonic testing of ingots


Determination of O₂, N₂, H₂ gases in titanium alloys is performed using LECO analyzers.
Determination of the depth of shrinkage cavity and of other inhomogeneities in the ingots is performed by the method of non-destructive ultrasonic testing (UT), using UD4-76 flaw detector. Flaw detector allows detection of isolated defects of more than 1 mm diameter, as well as finer defect clusters.
Express-analysis of mass fraction of chemical elements in input charge and finished ingots is performed by X-ray fluorescent spectrometer «DP-2000» of Innov-X Systems, Inc., USA.
Detection of latent defects of ingot surface is conducted by nondestructive testing by die-penetrant method.




X-ray fluorescence spectrometer «DP-2000»





Inspection of ingot surface quality





Products

Range of products produced by SE «SPC «Titan» of the E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute of the NAS of Ukraine» is given in the table:
Grades*

Size range

Diameter, mm: 110, 150, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 830, 1100; of up to 4000 mm length

Width to thickness, mm: 165x950,150x530; of up to 4000 mm length

VT1-00, VT1-0, PT1M, 3M, ET3, VT5, PT7M, PT3V, VT6, VT8, VT9, VT3-1, VT14, VT20, VT22, VT23, T110, Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 5, Grade 9, Grade 12

*Other alloy grades can be produced by agreement with the Customer.

Chemical composition of the ingots meets the requirements of the local and foreign standards GOST, ASTM, AMS, etc. (ISO 9001 Quality System Certificate).



Titanium ingots of 400 mm diameter





Titanium ingots of 100-600 mm diameter





Titanium slab of 165x950x4000 mm	Titanium ingot of 1100 mm diameter
	Titanium slabs of 165x950x1500 mm

Ebm ingot products



Forged rods of 300 mm diameter from titanium alloy VT3-1





Forged rods of 160 mm diameter from titanium alloy VT22



Manufacture of various kinds of semi-finished products (forgings, rods, pipes) from ingots of titanium and alloys on its base produced by SE «SPC «Titan» of the E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute of the NAS of Ukraine» was organized through cooperation with specialized enterprises of Ukraine.


Hot-rolled rods of 50 mm diameter from titanium of VT1-0 grade	Forging of Ø1950x160 mm size from high-temperature titanium alloy VT3-1
	Ø190/90 tubular billets from titanium alloy VT14


Investigations of the quality of these semi-finished products showed that their properties fully meet all the requirements imposed by the standards to quality of products from titanium and its alloys.




Hot-rolled pipes of 114 mm diameter from titanium alloy VT20





Cold-rolled pipes from titanium alloys VT1-0, PT-1M, PT-7M





Export



Export


SE «SPC «Titan» of the E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute of the NAS of Ukraine» has presented its products in the international exhibitions in near and distant foreign countries: the USA, China, Japan, Russia, France, Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Norway, Singapore, and Lithuania.












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