What a difference losing a few pounds makes. Not those extra pounds put on during the holiday season. This story is about the trimmed down bicycles that TiSport donated to three Washington State Police Departments.

“Awhile back, we were thinking about ways that we could give something back to our community here in the Tri-Cities, Washington,” explains Rick Forman, President of TiSport LLC, a Kennewick, Washington-based manufacturer of bicycles, wheelchairs, golf shafts, and other titanium goods. “Someone suggested that police in other cities often use bicycles to police outdoor events and places (such as parks) where the use of a patrol car is not feasible, yet mobility better than being on foot is required. Since none of us had ever seen our local police force using bicycles, we thought that it might be a good idea.”

TiSport contacted its local police departments in Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland and asked if they would be able to make use of police mountain bikes. “As it turned out, all three departments already had small police bike programs, but were limited in what they could do by budget constraints,” says Forman. “They were all very excited about the prospect of being able to expand those programs without having to incur the cost of purchasing bikes.” 

Worthy cause determined, TiSport set about building 18 mountain bikes for the three departments. “As with all our bicycles, we used Ti 3-2.5 alloy for the frames,” says Forman. “Most of that titanium tubing is seamless tubing (supplied by ATI Wah Chang), but one of the largest tubes (1.75" O.D.) is a welded tube because we are unaware that it otherwise available in a seamless version. We build with Ti 3-2.5 because of its excellent strength-to-weight ratio and formability. CP Ti grades do not provide the strength necessary for sports equipment applications, such as bicycles.” He adds that Ti 6-4 grades are less formable and more difficult to fabricate into bicycles, and that the weight savings that can be achieved with 6-4 grades is not that significant.

“The bikes were special versions of our G-Man mountain bike that we introduced a few years ago,” according to Forman. “Needless to say, the department officials were very grateful, and the officers who received them couldn’t wait to use them.” Apparently, several of the more competitive officers said that they especially looked forward to upcoming regional police cycling competitions where they were sure that they would have a significant edge over their competitors from other cities that would be using heavier aluminum bikes.

Kennewick Chief of Police Ken Hohenberg had more practical applications in mind for the bikes. “Our TiLite police bicycles are very popular in our department for a variety of reasons,” he says. “Just like our police cars they are utilized in all kinds of conditions and their usage requires that they are tough and durable while providing comfort. An added bonus is the fact they are so lightweight. As a result we are riding the “Cadillac” of police bicycles.” According to Hohenberg, people are surprised at how durable the lightweight bikes are. “In fact, due to the superior quality of the bicycles, our maintenance of them was greatly reduced compared with other products we had in service before,” he says.

Hohenberg adds that police bicycles often need to be transported from one area to another throughout the city. “They are very easy to load and unload regardless of the size or gender of the officer,” he explains. “There are times when it is necessary to get them out of the way while contacting suspects or offenders and, once again, the lightweight and durability of the titanium bicycles make them almost impossible to damage.”

In addition to the Kennewick Police Department, the Richland and Pasco, Washington Police Departments currently utilize TiLite bicycles as well as the Benton County, Oregon Sheriff's Department. The Kennewick Fire Department also has two TiLite bicycles for their Paramedics to utilize at special events. Hohenberg thinks there may be uses for titanium products in other law enforcement-related applications. “Something as simple as a camera pole for SWAT teams to be able to get a camera up into a window for surveillance would have the advantage of being durable and light,” he suggests.

Though TiSport does build titanium bicycles, sporting goods, and a host of other unique products, manufacturing custom wheelchairs is its biggest business. “At present, wheelchairs are our focus, and we expect that our wheelchair products will increasingly represent a larger and larger percentage of our business,” says Forman. “We have focused our attention on the wheelchair market because we believe it has the most potential to significantly improve the lives of wheelchair users throughout the U.S. and the world. Titanium is a far superior material for this application than aluminum or steel.” 

TiSport is always working to expand and update its wheelchair product line, according to Forman. “We have introduced new wheelchair products every year since we entered the wheelchair market in 1999,” he says.“ In 2006, we introduced two new products: our titanium TiLite TX and our aluminum TiLite Aero Z.” But TiSport’s President is secretive about what lies just over the horizon. “We expect to launch new wheelchair products in 2007, but we cannot divulge the details at this time,” he says.

What Forman can say is that the company will continue to fabricate bicycle frames for various applications, which is welcome news for people like Hohenberg. “We are very proud to have TiSport manufacturing located in the City of Kennewick,” says the Chief. “The CEO, David Lippes, is committed to quality and that is reflected in their products and quality control. I strive to give our officers the best equipment and tools to keep them safe. There is not a superior product to our TiLite police bicycles.”

For more information about TiSport bikes, TiLite® wheelchairs, and other products, visit www.titaniumsports.com.

Introduction

The basic accepted industry standard for producing clad products is ASTM B898. This specification was issued about six years ago. This session will attempt to provide some additional help for equipment design and fabrication where clad products are used. The panel members include end user Don Timbres and consultant B.J. Sanders, two suppliers, John Banker and Rein Raud, and a fabricator David Frey. Information will be provided by a series of questions/answers from the panelists and questions from the audience at the end.

Rein Raud John Banker David Frey

Don Timbres B.J. Sanders

_______________

QUESTION:

What clad products are available today other than flat plates?


ANSWER:

John Banker:
Clad plate is by far the dominant clad product available today. Cylindrical components like piping can be made with titanium. This product has not been a commercial success, but I guess you can say it is available. Clad heads are also available.

Rein Raud:
As John said, the primary market is the clad plate but I would also like to mention some various types of transition joints used in shipbuilding in the superstructure and between the hull and superstructure. These components do not utilize reactive metals but rather aluminum and steel.
If you extend what I presented in the Sigmabond talk, the same technology could be applied to the seamless pipe extension process and a seamless clad product could be available if market demand became great enough.


_______________

QUESTION:

For each of the two major cladding processes: explosion clad and roll clad, what are the maximum plate sizes available and what are the limitations on thickness of the cladder material and backer material?


ANSWER:

Rein Raud:
I will talk about roll cladding and let John speak about explosion cladding. The sizes are typically limited to the mill size itself. The largest rolling mill that I know of is about 4 m (13.1 ft) wide. Taking yields into account, the maximum width would then be about 3.8 m (12.5 ft). In terms of length, the roll out table controls the maximum length and typically 12-15 m (39 – 49 ft) is the maximum length available in a roll band plate. One additional restraint is the maximum distance between the open rollers. This, of course, dictates the maximum mass of the starting billet and the finished dimension depending on the final thickness of the plate.

John Banker:
I will limit my discussion to titanium clad to steel. Using titanium clad directly to steel with the cladder roughly 3/16 in. (5mm) and base material is 1 in. (25mm), clad plates up to 195 in. (5 m) wide and 450 in. (11.4m) long can be produced.

David Frey:
This sounds like awfully big plates. I think we are starting to exceed what fabricators may be able to handle.


_______________

QUESTION:

The question always comes up as to the cost of clad versus solid construction. Currently, is there any new information about where the breakpoint is for vessel thickness of solid construction being less expensive than clad construction?


ANSWER:

David Frey:
Traditionally for vessels (columns & reactors) the transition thickness for titanium has been about 3/4 in. to 1 in. (19.2mm to 25.4mm). Above that thickness range, clad construction is usually less expensive. With zirconium, the thickness rage at which clad construction is more favorable is 5/8 in. to 3/4 in. (16mm – 19.2mm) of solid zirconium. As titanium has become more expensive in the past year or so, the economical thickness for solid construction has shifted downward to the range of 5/8 in. to 3/4 in. (16mm – 19.2mm) for solid titanium.

There are other factors to consider when selecting between solid and clad construction particularly if the vessel in question has an external jacket. If you have high external pressure acting on the vessel shell it is much more economical to use carbon steel to contain the pressure rather than titanium or zirconium. Also if you have an external jacket and plan to use solid construction for main vessel shell, joining of the vessel and jacket by welding becomes rather tricky unless you use the same materials for the shell and jacket. And this can be very expensive.

Don Timbres:
As an end user, we have only a few applications where we might want to use clad construction. One is for nitric acid production equipment and the other is urea fertilizer production. Urea production vessels are usually designed for very high pressure and medium to high temperatures. Under those conditions the obvious choice is clad construction.

David Frey:
With titanium or zirconium, the two choices of construction are solid or clad. With tantalum, solid is really never an option. The actual choices are loose lined or clad construction and the process design and operating conditions tend to control the selection of which type i.e. loose lined or clad. Where vacuum conditions exist and/or heat transfer is important, and then probably tantalum clad is the option. Otherwise, loose lined can be used and when properly designed and fabricated it works quite well. The major point is that selection is not a matter of economics but rather is design/operating condition driven.


_______________

QUESTION:

When selecting the minimum and/or maximum cladder thickness, what parameters or considerations are used to determine that thickness?


ANSWER:

David Frey:
This is a question, which will generate a number of opinions. I think the differences in cladder thickness are driven a lot by fabricator preferences. In our shop, we prefer to stay at a minimum cladder thickness of 1/8 in. (3.2mm). We have constructed both titanium and zirconium clad vessels with a cladder thickness of 0.079 in. (2mm) and you can get a sound batter strap weld with that thickness. But the reason I prefer to stay with the thicker cladder is the safety margin against potential mechanical damage that may occur during bonding, fabrication and/or operation. Most purchasers of clad equipment want to have very long life expectancies. It is nice to have the extra thickness in case some vessel internal parts become loose and bounce around inside the vessel. A cladder thickness of 0.079 in. (2mm) probably would be penetrated but 3/16 in. (4.75mm) clad thickness would have enough safety factors to resist failure.

Don Timbres:
We basically look at dealing with the fabricator to tell us what cladder thickness they are comfortable with and then install and monitor a leak detection system as a safety backup.


_______________

QUESTION:

This question is about the use of an interlayer (usually titanium) between the zirconium cladder and backer material, which is usually carbon steel. When is the interlayer required? When is it just a good idea? When is it not needed?


ANSWER:

John Banker:
In conventional direct explosion cladding of Titanium Grade 1 to normal pressure vessel steels, an interlayer is essentially never required. If the cladder is Titanium Grade 5, 9 or 12, a soft Titanium Grade 1 interlayer is required. If the cladder is Zirconium Alloy R60700 (low oxygen), cladding can be done with cladder thickness up to about 0.351 in. (9mm) and no interlayer requirement. Above that thickness, a Titanium Grade 1 interlayer is always required. When cladding with standard Zirconium Alloy R60702 a Titanium Grade 1 interlayer is always required.


_______________

QUESTION:

When doing explosion cladding for producing tube sheet blanks where the base metal or backer is Nickel Alloy C22 or Alloy G and the cladder is Zirconium Alloy R60702, what are the interlayer requirements?


ANSWER:

John Banker:
If the backer material is not mild steel then the need for an interlayer is dependent on a lot of factors. In some cases, for example a 304 SS backer, we would use a titanium interlayer with a Zirconium 702™ cladder. For a backing material like alloy C22, I would use an interlayer such as soft nickel.


_______________

QUESTION:

Are there any special considerations when designing a pressure vessel to be fabricated using clad plates? Does the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel code apply to clad plates?


ANSWER:

David Frey:
As far as the code goes, there are not too things which are special. The primary consideration is with the backer material. The cladder material does not enter into the code calculations. It is only a corrosion barrier.
The other significant point that needs to be made by a vessel designer/fabricator is to make efficient use of plate sizes in the diameter and length of the vessel in order to minimize the number of batten strap joints in the vessel.

The other major consideration is to provide adequate purging behind all the batten strap seams to provide good weld quality. In order to assure adequate purging, the designer/fabrication needs to provide for a sufficient number of couplings on the outside of the steel backer. These couplings will double as connections to perform Helium leak testing during the testing stage.


_______________

QUESTION:

When using clad plates to fabricate components for a pressure vessel, are there any special considerations and/or watch outs for the fabricator to be aware of? For example while forming or rolling heads and cylindrical sections?


ANSWER:

John Banker:
The biggest issue with titanium and zirconium clad plates is during the hot metal working and not going beyond the recommended working temperatures. That is an area where there are frequent problems by fabricators who are novices with these materials.

The other area involves the differences in strength of the cladder material and the steel backer. The cladder has a relatively low strength compared to steel. When forming head components if you are not careful, you can deform the titanium layer and cause disbonding.

David Frey:
I would like to add one other comment about batten strap design. The standard seems to have always been to use a batten strap about 3/16 in. (4.75mm) thick and about 3 in. (76mm) wide and that works for most vessel designs. With each new design, the fabricator (or whoever the designer is), needs to pay special attention to the design temperature, pressure and operating conditions. The batten strap weld stresses can vary significantly as design temperatures increase. The higher the operating temperature, the greater the differences of the thermal expansion across the batten straps resulting in higher stresses on the batten strap fillet welds. Batten strap widths and thicknesses affect these weld stresses. Batten strap construction can be very reliable as long as we pay attention to make sure the design is sound.


_______________

QUESTION:

Are there any inspection methods for clad constructed vessels, which are different than solid constructed vessels?


ANSWER:

Don Timbres:
Heavy wall clad vessels usually undergo several leak tests to test the batten strap welds. The helium leak test is an industry standard and it is a very sensitive test. When using a helium leak test, the vessel must be completely dry or false results can be obtained. To overcome this, we sometimes employ an ammonia leak test, traces of water will not affect the test results. We also subject the vessels to a hot cycle test followed by additional leak tests with helium or ammonia.

David Frey:
When fabricating vessels using solid construction, you normally rely on the ASME Code which requires 100% x-ray of butt welds so you are typically relying heavily on x-ray and dye penetrate inspection and by testing for weld quality checking. When fabricating vessels using clad plates, you may or may not x-ray the backer welds so our emphasis shift to the internal batten strap welds. For those welds we rely on Helium leak testing along with dye penetrant testing along with continuous vessels inspection. Sometimes there is an application of ultrasonic testing to check for any disbonding that may develop around the attachment welds, nozzle attachments or batten straps. Quite often, in clad construction, you may have an external jacket for heating and/or cooling and a hot cycle test may be used followed by a Helium leak test.


_______________

QUESTION:

In producing clad plates what is desirable for the interface at the band zone, a straight interface or a wavy one?


ANSWER:

John Banker:
Well it depends, with the explosion technology used. By controlling the energy of the collision you can vary the type of interface from flat to moderately wavy, to aggressively wavy and highly turbulent. There are reports dating from the 1960s showing this and relating that parameter to the Reynolds numbers by controlling the detonation rates. Most explosives do not like to detonate, and work done to the low velocities that are needed to produce a flat bond zone. A flat bond zone is the best, but it is very, very, very hard to make a large industrial explosive type product with a flat band zone. A wavy bond zone is producible over a wide range of parameters and in my opinion is extremely suitable for the intended use.

Rein Raud:
If we go back to the days of when DuPont was working at developing the explosion clad technology there were a lot of unknowns around what the wavy interface actually produces. At one point, it was really thought the wavy interface created a sort of zipper effect that created the bond and maintained it. John just confirmed that if you can get a flat bond it is desirable. A wavy interface typically creates unwanted conditions like the shear cracks emanating from wave crest, plus other undesirables. It is correct when we talk about trying to create a flat bond in a region that it is probably associated with a limited area where you can actually achieve it.

WHEN:
September 9-13, 2007

WHERE:
Sunriver, Oregon, USA

FOCUS:
The newest specialty metals for corrosive environments

AGENDA:
• Technical presentations and panel discussions
• Guest speakers
• Vendor exhibits
• Outdoor activities including golf, tennis and horseback riding
• Networking receptions

REGISTRATION:
Limited to 350 attendees

INFORMATION:
541-926-4211 x6280 and online at
www.corrosionconference.com



Full schedule to focus on specialty materials
in aqueous corrosive environments


More than 200 corrosion professionals from around the world will share ideas and delve into specialty metals designed for corrosive environments at the 2007 Corrosion Solutions® Conference, scheduled for September 9–13, 2007, at the Central Oregon resort community of Sunriver. The conference addresses the specific interests of professionals in materials application and equipment fabrication for the chemical, mineral and petrochemical industries.

The Corrosion Solutions Conference is sponsored by ATI Wah Chang, a leading producer of specialty metals, and has been held every other year since 1997. The last conference, in 2005, attracted 250 attendees from 22 countries. The ever-growing list of processing companies that plan to attend CSC07 includes ABB, BASF, DuPont, Dow, Exxon, Monsanto, Rohm & Haas and Statoil.

“This year’s Corrosion Solutions Conference promises to be even bigger and better as we explore innovations that are shaping the future of the processing world,” said Parry Walborn, VP Commercial at ATI Wah Chang. “Attendees will be the first to hear about cutting-edge ideas in materials science and corrosion prevention and will have the chance to interact with experienced professionals, peers and industry leaders in a collaborative, relaxed setting.”

In order to create a casual environment and offer enhanced networking opportunities, the 2007 Corrosion Solutions Conference will be limited to 350 attendees.


Keynote Speakers

The 2007 Corrosion Solutions Conference offers a full lineup of interactive technical presentations and distinguished guest speakers. Scheduled to deliver keynote speeches at the event are:

L. Patrick (Pat) Hassey is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Allegheny Technologies. He became President and Chief Executive Officer on October 1, 2003 and was elected Chairman on May 6, 2004. Mr. Hassey has 35 years of broad international experience in metals manufacturing, engineered products, marketing and sales. He was Executive Vice-President and a member of the corporate executive committee at Alcoa, Inc. at the time of his early retirement in February 2003. Prior to becoming President and CEO of Allegheny Technologies, Mr. Hassey had been working as an outside management consultant to ATI executive management. Pat is a member of the Board of Ryder System, Inc. and serves on the Executive Committee of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development. Mr. Hassey is a graduate of California State University at Long Beach and attended the University of Southern California MBA Program.

Roger Armstrong graduated with a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Iowa and an M.S. degree in Metallurgy from the University of Missouri-Rolla. He has 30 years of experience in the Chemical Industry in Project Engineering, Plant Production, Materials Engineering and Metallurgy. A Materials Manufacturing Technologist with Monsanto Corporation for the past 13 years, he now serves as Monsanto’s Corporate Material Engineer with worldwide responsibilities for materials, fabrication, inspection and corrosion testing. He holds certifications as an API-510 pressure vessel inspector and an AWS certified welding inspector. Beginning in 2002 he has had corporate responsibilities for developing and maintaining material, corrosion and inspection expertise at all Monsanto sites. Since 2005, he has served on the Board of Directors of MTI (Material Technology Institute).

Mike James graduated with a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M and has 28 years of experience in the Chemical and Petrochemical Industry in Materials Engineering and Metallurgy. A Senior Consultant in Materials Engineering with E. I. DuPont in Houston for 19 years, he now serves as DuPont’s Global Leader in Equipment Welding, Fabrication and Repair. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in the state of Texas and is DuPont’s representative on the Materials Task Group, Fabrication and Inspection Task Group and Special Working Group for High Pressures Vessels on ASME Boiler and Pressure Code, Section VIII, Division 3 for ultra high pressure vessels. Since 2000 he has traveled to over 20 countries around the world performing fabrication shop auditing and qualification, and consulting on new equipment fabrication. He has numerous publications on the topics of corrosion, materials selection and equipment fabrication of chemical processing equipment.

In 1976, Jürgen Korkhaus received his Engineering Degree in Ferrous Metallurgy at the Technical University of Aachen in Germany. For the next 6 years he stayed at the Institute of Ferrous Metallurgy to work as an assistant engineer and to prepare his doctoral thesis; The Application of Fracture Mechanics on Multilayer Welded Joints in Structural Steel Components. During this time he also passed the examination necessary to become a welding engineer. Dr. Korkhaus’s career started in the Mannesmann Research Institute in 1982. In 1986 he joined the Materials Engineering Department at Bayer AG in Leverkusen and in 1990 moved to the Materials Engineering Department at BASF AG in Ludwigshafen. From 1991 to 2004 Dr. Korkhaus lead the Failure Analysis and Corrosion Prevention group. In 2004 Dr. Korkhaus became the head of Materials Engineering at BASF AG in Ludwigshafen where the Materials Engineering group is charged with a wide range of activities. Material selection for new chemical processes, material consultancy and quality assurance activities, corrosion research, failure analysis, stress and strain analysis as well as the integrity evaluation of plant components is similarly performed on both metallic and polymer materials.

Educational Presentations

In addition to keynote speakers, the conference offers a rich schedule of educational panel discussions.

More than 35 technical presentations will cover a broad range of topics, concentrating on the performance of specialty metals in aqueous corrosive environments. Experienced professionals plan to focus on the most up-to-date information on working with specialty stainless steels, nickel alloys, titanium, niobium, tantalum and zirconium.

Specific topics at this year’s event include:

“The presentations will be great opportunities to hear from industry professionals who are leading the way in the chemical processing industry and learn about the newest alloys developed for a variety of corrosive environments,” said Rick Sutherlin, Wah Chang’s Manager of Technical Services.


Exhibitors

The conference will also allow attendees to interact with leading companies providing the latest corrosion solutions products to the industry. A host of suppliers will be on hand each day of the conference at the Vendor Exhibition Hall, which opens at 7 a.m. and will include table-top exhibits and information.


Outdoor Activities

Attendees at the 2007 Corrosion Solutions Conference will have the chance to play on one of America’s top golf courses. A scramble golf tournament will be held on Sunday, September 9, at Sunriver Resort’s world famous Crosswater course, situated on 1,000 acres of scenic woodlands and threaded by the Little Deschutes River.

Attendees also can enjoy Sunriver’s other exciting outdoor activities, including rafting, bicycling, kayaking, hiking and horseback riding. In addition, the resort features world-class spas, swimming pools and tennis courts.


Registration

The 2007 Corrosion Solutions Conference will be limited to 350 attendees. Attendees are encouraged to sign up early and take advantage of a discounted $595 registration fee available before May 31. The registration fee after June 1 is $695. Registration includes all educational sessions, panel discussions, most meals and evening receptions. Hotel lodging and activity fees are additional.

Registration materials, a complete conference schedule, travel information and additional conference details are available online at www.corrosionconference.com, or by calling ATI Wah Chang at 541-926-4211 x6280.

LYNN DAVIS
President

PARRY WALBORN
Vice President — Commercial

ANDY NICHOLS
Director of Marketing

GARY KNEISEL
Director of Sales

KIRK RICHARDSON
Editor

STEPHANIE O'CONNOR
Assistant Editor

Copyright ©2007 Wah Chang. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this newsletter by any means, in whole or in part, without written permission is prohibited by law. Outlook is published quarterly by Wah Chang. The newsletter contains information on reactive and refractory metals, including hafnium, niobium, titanium, vanadium and zirconium, as well as chemicals. The properties listed herein are average values based on laboratory and field test data from a number of sources. They are indicative only of the results obtained in such tests and should not be considered as guaranteed maximums or minimums. The starburst logo and Wah Chang are registered trademarks of ATI Properties, Inc.

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