Driver Posted September 23, 2005 Share Posted September 23, 2005 I've got a nice lay out of Titanium 1" tub stock and .070 plate layed out to make a front strut tower brace. I recently heard that TIG isn't good enough, it must be done a zero oxygen environment, i.e. vaccume or nitrogen saturated chamber, because oxidation can still form in the weld. Is there any truth to this? I'm using aluminum alloy Ti, should that at least help out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zuperdave Posted September 25, 2005 Share Posted September 25, 2005 You can probably contact any manufacturer of titanium bicycle frames and ask them what welding techniques they use. The couple of names that come to mind immediately are Serotta and LiteSpeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renntag Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 PLease keep this thread alive as I am going to be taking on a Ti project over the winter fabricating an exhaust for my track bike. I havnt heard anything yet regarding the vacuum environment you speak of. I was under the impression that the typical gas purge was effective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Late Apex Racing Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 In my experience you can Tig weld titanium as long as you have a good pre and post purge of shielding gas. This will displace O2 that may migrate to the weld site. If you are welding tube, ie. exhausts, try to make sure that sufficient backside purge is applied. This can be done with a separate purge source to the inside of the pipe and by ensuring that there is some "backpressure" on the pipe but not so much as to have the increase in pressure "blowout" the weld. Have had a number of pipe sections fabricated and/or repaired on my racebikes and they were all tig welded without any issues. Ken Atkins http://www.lateapexracing.com [email protected] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renntag Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 Hey ken. Thanks. That sounds reasonable. We havnt launched the project yet but will consider the dual purge. So what brings you to the NASA forums? First post, and a motorcycle racer... I raced CCS and WERA for nearly 7 years. I control ride/ instruct now and will be racing a spec mustang starting February at VIR. Perhaps I will see you at a track event some time some where. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbaker Posted November 3, 2005 Share Posted November 3, 2005 I can't help with the specifics of welding, but for medical implants we use Ti-6Al-4V ELI per ASTM F-136. ELI stands for "Extra Low Intersticial" to minimize hydrogen embrittlement. Apparentlly some alloys can be sensitive to this, so the gas control may be very important. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghughes Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 From the airplane world I would note that you should not use the same tools on the Ti that have been used to work Aluminum (such as grinding wheels and drill bits). It will cause localized embrittlement of the titanium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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