What is sponge titanium?
Sponge titanium is not a true sponge, but the initial form of titanium metal extracted from titanium ore. It is named so because its appearance is porous and loose, and its texture is brittle, much like a piece of metal sponge. This structure contains a large amount of impurities, such as oxygen and chlorine gas, and cannot be directly used as a structural material.
What is a sponge titanium pressure electrode?
To transform loose sponge titanium into dense and usable metallic titanium, it needs to be smelted. However, sponge titanium cannot be directly put into the smelting furnace. It needs to be uniformly mixed with the required alloying elements first, then placed in a huge steel mold, and then pressed into a solid, dense, and conductive block by applying extremely high pressure with a ten-thousand-ton hydraulic press. This block is called a self-consumable electrode.
Why is it necessary to conduct sponge titanium pressure electrodes?
The core purpose of the pressure electrode is to prepare for the subsequent vacuum consumable arc melting. First, smelting requires electrodes as the negative electrode. After being electrified, an electric arc is generated to melt itself. Loose sponge titanium does not conduct electricity and must be pressed into dense electrodes to conduct electricity. Secondly, before pressing, the sponge titanium can be precisely mixed with the alloy element powder to ensure that the chemical composition of the final titanium ingot is uniform and consistent. Thirdly, the dense electrode blocks melt more smoothly and efficiently, avoiding the splashing or collapse of loose materials during the smelting process and ensuring production safety. Fourth, high pressure can crush some of the brittle impurities in the sponge titanium and completely remove them in the subsequent smelting process. Fifth, titanium alloys for high-end applications (such as aero engines and medical implants) typically need to undergo two or three smelting processes to remove impurities, homogenize composition, and refine grains, thereby ensuring that titanium ingots have extremely high purity and mechanical properties
Summary
Overall, the sponge titanium pressure electrode is a process of "pretreatment" and "shaping": the loose, porous, and non-conductive sponge titanium is input. By high-pressure pressing and mixing alloy elements, a dense, strong, and conductive self-consumable electrode is formed. To prepare qualified raw materials for subsequent vacuum melting, to produce high-quality and defect-free titanium and titanium alloy ingots.
