Welding Titanium

admin

Hey,So my friend bought a Diamond S sled off craigslist, who uses titanium for their chassishttp://diamond-smfg.com/Anyways, we went to the local welding place and his chassis has a small crack in it where you put your feet. We tried to buy tig rod, but apparently there are multiple alloys for Titanium and we need to know which it is to get the correct rod.We can not get a hold of the manufacturer at the web site, email, phone or anything else. Ive posted on a few other forums with no replies, so I am wondering if anyone here would have any idea what type of titanium or the specific rod type we will need to weld this back together.Does anyone have any idea what a sled chassis would be made of? And could anyone tell me what would happen if the wrong rod was used? Thanks
Reply:My procedure for titanium calls for ER Ti-1 filler.  Er Ti-2 filler has more hydrogen, nickel, and iron.  ER Ti-2 is also the most common, likely due to the fact that it has higher tensile strength.  I would suggest ER Ti-2 for a repair.If the wrong filler is used and does not have the intended strength of the original, the weld will fail.  There should be no material incompatibility issues to deal with.  In my opinion, if the manufacturer was cutting the design that close where it would fail if you used a 35ksi (ER Ti-1) material instead of a 50 ksi (ER Ti-2) material, I would doubt their design overall.I hope this helps.
Reply:Thats interesting. Thank you for your help.ER Ti-2 sounds like what we will be trying
Reply:Hello ArrizX, there is one other slim possibility that you could explore. Try contacting Ti-Met or ATI Wah Chang, they are probably 2 of the largest producers/suppliers of titanium products and alloys around, there is a remote chance that they could provide you with the Ti materials grade that Diamond S is using for the manufacture of their sleds through their material sales/purchase record. A long shot, but you never know. Best of luck and regards, Allanaevald
Reply:Arriz,Just be aware there "a lot more" to welding titanium than just getting the right filler.Protection from the atmosphere is critical.  If you don't protect it, you trash it.Syncro 250 DX Dynasty 200 DXMM 251 w/30A SG XMT 304 w/714 Feeder & Optima PulserHH187Dialarc 250 AC/DCHypertherm PM 1250Smith, Harris, Victor O/ASmith and Thermco Gas MixersAccess to a full fab shop with CNC Plasma, Water Jet, etc.
Reply:Originally Posted by ArrizXHey,So my friend bought a Diamond S sled off craigslist, who uses titanium for their chassishttp://diamond-smfg.com/Anyways, we went to the local welding place and his chassis has a small crack in it where you put your feet. We tried to buy tig rod, but apparently there are multiple alloys for Titanium and we need to know which it is to get the correct rod.We can not get a hold of the manufacturer at the web site, email, phone or anything else. Ive posted on a few other forums with no replies, so I am wondering if anyone here would have any idea what type of titanium or the specific rod type we will need to weld this back together.Does anyone have any idea what a sled chassis would be made of? And could anyone tell me what would happen if the wrong rod was used? Thanks
Reply:This guy could probaly help you with infohttp://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2682960
Reply:Originally Posted by aevaldHello ArrizX, there is one other slim possibility that you could explore. Try contacting Ti-Met or ATI Wah Chang, they are probably 2 of the largest producers/suppliers of titanium products and alloys around, there is a remote chance that they could provide you with the Ti materials grade that Diamond S is using for the manufacture of their sleds through their material sales/purchase record. A long shot, but you never know. Best of luck and regards, Allan
Reply:ArrizX:  It was just run of the mill spam
Reply:If your chassis is made from commercially pure Ti the Ti-1/2 will be fine. However it's 3/2.5 which is pretty common for a lot of tube chassis then that wire would be a bad choice you would want the alloy wire that matches your material grade. I welded a paddle together that used CP-2 tubing and used 6/4 wire and the weld had all kinds of little micro spider cracks in it, not positive it was due to the mis match in filler but I'm pretty sure. I'm also not sure if the filler and material were reversed if the same thing would have happened. titaniumjoe.com is a good place to buy the small quantity of wire you would need to due the repair.
Reply:Originally Posted by quasiIf your chassis is made from commercially pure Ti the Ti-1/2 will be fine. However it's 3/2.5 which is pretty common for a lot of tube chassis then that wire would be a bad choice you would want the alloy wire that matches your material grade. I welded a paddle together that used CP-2 tubing and used 6/4 wire and the weld had all kinds of little micro spider cracks in it, not positive it was due to the mis match in filler but I'm pretty sure. I'm also not sure if the filler and material were reversed if the same thing would have happened. titaniumjoe.com is a good place to buy the small quantity of wire you would need to due the repair.