From the surface of the moon to the depths of the ocean, ATI Wah Chang alloys have encountered many challenging environments. This August another Wah Chang alloy, ATI 425® Titanium, will be facing one of its toughest challenges yet – Mars. Chosen for its good cold formability and high strength, ATI 425® was selected as the structural material of choice for the Thermal Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA), one of the scientific instruments being used on the Phoenix Mars Lander (see Figure 1), which is set to launch in August 2007. The Lander’s mission is to study the history of water and habitability potential on the cold, desert planet.

Mike Williams, Lead Mechanical Engineer, for the TEGA team, provided valuable insight as to how materials selection for this type of project occurs and why ATI 425® titanium was chosen as a structural material for TEGA.

“ATI 425® titanium sheet was selected for major structural elements in the Phoenix Project Thermal Analyzer primarily due to its good cold formability,” explains Williams (refer to Figures 2 and 3). He added that there were other requirements that indicated a titanium alloy was the appropriate material. The characteristics most important in the structural material selection were high yield strength and low mass combined with low thermal conductivity; but the small bend radius of ATI 425® is what led the team to choose the innovative new alloy over Ti6Al4V.

Williams explained that bend radius was a big factor in material selection. “Two parts required a 3T maximum bend radius and this led to ATI 425® (titanium) as the better choice when traded against the 4.5T minimum radius recommended for Ti6Al4V,” he said. “Other parts required larger radius bends and, of course, were no problem at all.”

The valve manifold support structure was the application that was most demanding, according to Williams. “The valve manifold at 720gm was one of the heavier elements of the instrument, and it needed to be heated with minimum energy to prevent the condensation of the evolved gas that passes through it from the ovens to the Mass Spectrometer,” he said. “An energy efficient solution supports the manifold with ductile high strength blades of minimum cross section, maximum length, and low thermal conductivity to minimize heat loss to the rest of the structure. The blades were analyzed with respect to direct shear, bending, and buckling to define their size. With six times the yield strength to density ratio and half the thermal conductivity of 304/316 stainless steel, ATI 425® (titanium) was a good material choice.”

Another consideration that needed to be factored in was fabrication. Williams told Wah Chang, “The fabrication limits of a small instrument shop were equally significant to the material choice. The titanium parts are fabricated from sheet stock, bent on manual brakes, and TIG welded. The welds are conservative designs with a minimum Finite Element Analysis (FEA) predicted safety factor of 2.5 with respect to yield. All welds were TIG with back side shielding. Static tests were performed with 1.5X maximum predicted loads with no evidence of yielding.”

Given the collaborative nature of the Phoenix Mars Mission, ATI 425® titanium had to be tested by other project partners to gain qualification for the mission. “The material was placed on a TEGA materials use list and submitted to the JPL Materials Engineer for approval,” according to Heather Enos, Project Manager for the TEGA Team. “They verify that there are no outgassing or structural conflicts with the overall payload/spacecraft. The material also went through a physical inspection for imperfections prior to machining.

The material was then formed into the ‘TA wedge’ and went through the entire thermal and vibration qualification once it was assembled onto the Thermal Analyzer (see Figure 4). The tests were used to verify that all materials and parts would not crack under the extreme environments they would be exposed to. The vibration levels simulated the launch with added margin. The thermal environments were done in a vacuum with a liquid nitrogen backfill and were exposed to three thermal cycles. The Thermal Analyzer was qualified from -102°C to 70°C, the Evolved Gas Analyzer from -50°C to 70°C, and control electronics from -50°C to 40°C. We then ran the TA (wedge) at HOT for ~ 150 hours.”

Due to the extreme conditions that the spacecraft will be operating under and the temperatures at which TEGA must operate at; proper material selection for both the craft and the instrument are critical to the success of the project. To facilitate these conditions, ATI Wah Chang was originally asked to supply Ti6Al4V as the desired structural material for TEGA. At the time, Ti6Al4V was in high demand creating long lead times for delivery.

Stan Kirsch, Senior Technical Services Engineer for ATI Wah Chang, suggested that ATI 425® titanium be used instead of Ti6Al4V with the promise that the alloy would function equally as well and be available within the desired time frame. The company delivered on that promise.

Asked if she would consider using ATI 425® titanium on future projects and instruments, Enos’ answer was an unequivocal “Absolutely”, giving ATI Wah Chang further confirmation that ATI 425® titanium is an ideal candidate for aerospace applications.

Recently designated as Grade 38 titanium by the ASTM, ATI 425® titanium is currently being tested for multiple aerospace and defense projects. Stay tuned for further updates on other new applications. For more information on how ATI 425® titanium can be used in your next project, contact John Seton at 541-812-7057 or email him at john.seton@wahchang.com.

Phoenix Mars Mission at a Glance NASA’s Phoenix Mars Mission, designed to study the history of water and habitability potential on the desolate planet, is part of a new era of collaborative space exploration. By studying the Martian arctic’s icy soil, scientists are hoping to characterize the climate and geology of Mars, determine whether life ever arose on Mars, and finally, prepare for human exploration. Led by Peter Smith of the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (UALPL), the mission is a joint project managed by the university, Lockheed Martin Space Systems (LMSS), and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The mission will be monitored from the Phoenix Science Operations Center (PSOC) at UALPL. Resources from UALPL, LMSS, JPL, and other institutions, such as the University of Texas-Dallas, the University of Neuchatel-Switzerland, the Max Planck Institute-Germany, and the Canadian Space Agency, have come together to build the Phoenix Mars Lander. The collaborative approach of including academia, government, and industry in the construction of the Lander has lead to a framework that combines new and old technologies to build a spacecraft that hosts some of the most innovative laboratory equipment ever sent to another planet. Each piece of hardware on the craft provides scientific measurements that will help characterize the current and past climate, geology, and presence of organics on the planet. The information gathered will also provide insight into how to make human exploration of Mars possible. The spacecraft being used for the mission was built by Lockheed Martin for the Mars Surveyor Program 2001 (MSP’01), which was canceled during the review and restructuring of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program. Since that time, the craft (see Figure 1) has been stored in Lockheed’s Class 100,000 clean high-bay facility in Littleton, Colorado. To date, several reliability upgrades have been made and extensive testing has been performed to ensure that the craft is ready for the August mission. Featuring ATI Wah Chang’s patented titanium alloy, ATI 425®, the Lander’s Thermal Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA), built by the University of Arizona TEGA team, is a combination high-temperature furnace and mass spectrometer instrument that scientists will use to analyze Martian ice and soil samples. A JPL-designed robotic arm, will dig trenches, scoop up soil and water ice samples, and deliver them to a hopper. The hopper will then feed a small amount of soil and ice into eight tiny ovens, each about the size of an ink cartridge in a ballpoint pen. Each of these ovens will be used only once to analyze eight unique ice and soil samples. Once a sample is successfully received and sealed in an oven, the temperature will be slowly increased at a constant rate, and the power required for heating will be carefully monitored from the PSOC. This process, called scanning calorimetry, shows the transitions from solid to liquid to gas of the different materials in the sample; information needed by scientists to understand the chemical character of the soil and ice. As the temperature of the furnace increases up to 1000°C (1800°F), the ice and other volatile materials in the sample will be vaporized into a stream of gases. These are called evolved gases and will be transported via an inert carrier to a mass spectrometer, a device used to measure the mass and concentrations of specific molecules and atoms in a sample. The mass spectrometer is sensitive to detection levels down to 10 parts per billion, a level that may detect minute quantities of organic molecules potentially existing in the ice and soil. With these precise measurement capabilities, scientists will be able to determine ratios of various isotopes of hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen, providing clues to origin of the volatile molecules, and possibly, biological processes that occurred in the past. To learn more about the Phoenix Mars Mission visit phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu.

The 2007 Corrosion Solutions Conference schedule is packed with approximately 40 technical presentations that are sure to provide valuable information and address issues surrounding the Chemical Processing and related industries. Metallurgists, fabricators, engineers, and analysts from all over the world have agreed to share their expertise and insight with conference attendees. For a full listing of presentation times and topics visit www.csc07.com. Here are just a few of the intriguing topics that will be presented at this years’ conference in September:


_______________

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2007 | 9:15AM - 9:45AM

Chemical Industry Outlook for 2008 + Mergers & Acquisitions: The Coming Wave

Joseph S. Chang
Editor-in-Chief
ICIS Chemical Business Americas
360 Park Avenue South, 12th Floor
New York, NY 10010 USA
Phone: 212-791-4224
Fax: 212-791-4310
E-mail: joseph.chang@icis.com

This presentation will give the business outlook for chemicals in 2008 and discuss the coming wave in mergers and acquisitions. After several good years in the industry, what does the future hold? And coming off a record year for M&A in 2006 and an active 2007, what can be expected in 2008? Joseph Chang discusses the outlook for 2008 and beyond, as well as the role of private equity.


_______________

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2007 | 8:00AM - 8:30AM

Ensuring Today’s Technical Core Competencies

Roger Armstrong
Corporate Material Engineer
Monsanto Corporation
500 Wiggens Road
Muscatine, IA 52761 USA
Phone: 563-262-7571
Fax: 563-262-5683
E-mail: roger.w.armstrong@monsanto.com

The Chemical Process industry and the associated support industries have undergone significant changes over the past 15 years. Changes such as right sizing, downsizing, divestiture, outsourcing, and retirement are having an impact on the retention of technical core competencies, which companies need to support their processes. Technical core competencies are those technical skills specific to a business that are necessary to make the transition from the laboratory to a production facility. These are the technical skills companies provide day in and day out that support the environmental, safety, health, and profit performance of companies and equipment. These can also be the skills that are taken for granted when the plant is running well, and easily lost with personnel changes.

With these changes and the beginning of the “baby boomer” retirements, companies need to develop a roadmap on how they will meet their future technical support needs. The purpose of this paper is to start and continue the dialogue on how companies can ensure that the technical core competencies they have spent years developing can be retained and used in the future.  


_______________

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2007 | 10:00AM - 10:30AM

Strategies for Successful Use of Zircadyne® 702 in Hot Concentrated Hydrochloric Acid

Patrick Snow
Process Engineer
ATI Wah Chang
1600 Old Salem Road NE
Albany, OR 97321 USA
Phone: 541-926-4211 x6384
Fax: 541-967-6987
E-mail: patrick.snow@wahchang.com

When proper precautions are taken, Zircadyne® 702 zirconium can be an excellent material of construction for hot, concentrated hydrochloric acid applications. In some circumstances, for example when iron deposits are present, zirconium can be susceptible to pitting and/or intergranular corrosion in this type of environment. The effects of heat treatment and surface condition on the corrosion resistance of Zircadyne® 702 zirconium in 36% HCl will be examined. New corrosion data from the ATI Wah Chang Corrosion Lab will be presented as well as test results on the effectiveness of several commercially-available pickle pastes.


_______________

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2007 | 9:00AM - 9:30AM

Alternative Welding Processes for the Fabrication of Titanium Structures

Nick Kapustka
Applications Engineer, Arc Welding, Lasers, & Automation
Edison Welding Institute (EWI)
1250 E. Arthur E. Adams Drive
Columbus, OH 43221 USA
Phone: 614-688-5175
Fax: 614-688-5001
E-mail: nick_kapustka@ewi.org

Chris Conrardy
V.P. of Technology and Innovation
Edison Welding Institute (EWI)
1250 E. Arthur E. Adams Drive
Columbus, OH 43221 USA
Phone: 614-688-5191
Fax: 614-688-5001
E-mail: chris_conrardy@ewi.org

Currently, gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) is the most commonly used process for the welding of titanium structures. This process produces high quality welds when proper procedures are followed. However, GTAW has relatively low productivity and requires a high level of welder skill as compared with other welding processes. In addition, the relatively high heat-input produced by GTAW can often result in significant welding induced distortion. Edison Welding Institute (EWI) has been investigating other titanium joining methods which can overcome these limitations.

Gas metal arc welding (GMAW) is commonly used to weld many alloys, but has not generally been used for welding titanium. While much more productive than GTAW, Titanium GMAW poses several challenges, requiring special techniques to achieve adequate inert gas shielding, arc stability, and contact tip life.

This paper reports results of tests to overcome these GMAW challenges for Ti6-4. Testing was conducted to determine the underside shielding requirements of sheet metal fillet welds and butt welds. Experimental results showed that underside shielding is not necessary for fillet welded T-joints, but is required for square groove butt welds. The effectiveness of three pneumatically powered tools at removing a-case and reducing hardness was also examined. Prototype shielding devices were developed that provide flexible, effective, and efficient shielding of the cooling weld metal, the other-side of fillet-welded T-joints, and the underside of both fillet-welded T-joints and groove welds.

Approaches to maximizing arc stability and minimizing spatter were also evaluated. It was determined that optimizing the current and voltage waveforms and utilizing a power-source that provides the necessary control will simultaneously maximize arc stability and minimize spatter.

Methods for extending contact tip life during titanium GMAW were also determined and are presented. Robotic horizontal, vertical, and overhead GMAW welding procedures were also developed. Mechanical properties of Ti 6-4 GMAW samples were found to be comparable to those produced using GTAW.

Other candidate processes evaluated for the joining of titanium include friction stir welding (FSW) and high powered laser welding (HLW). Both processes are automated and have higher production rates and lower heat input rates compared to GTAW, however both processes have high equipment cost and are relatively in-flexible.

This presentation will also describe several examples of titanium structural components produced using the GMAW, FSW, and HLW processes.

WHEN:
September 9-13, 2007

WHERE:
Sunriver, Oregon, USA

FOCUS:
Specialty metals for corrosive environments

KEY TOPICS:
• Development and utilization of new specialty metals
• Environmental stewardship
• Changing face of the engineering workforce

REGISTRATION:
Limited to 350 attendees

INFORMATION:
www.csc07.com and 541-926-4211 x6280



Environmental stewardship is a prevalent topic for many industries today, including the chemical, mineral and petrochemical communities. The effects of this movement on the specialty materials application market is just one of many issues that will be addressed in-depth at the 2007 Corrosion Solutions® Conference, scheduled for September 9–13, 2007, at Sunriver, Oregon.

The conference has been held every second year since 1997. The most recent event in 2005 attracted 250 attendees from 23 countries.


Keynote Speeches Increased to Five

Due to the impressive lineup of speakers, the number of keynote addresses at the 2007 Corrosion Solutions Conference has been expanded from three to five presentations. The five keynote presenters L.P. Hassey, Allegheny Technologies; Roger Armstrong, Monsanto; Mike James, DuPont; Jürgen Korkhaus, BASF; and Joseph Chang, ICIS.


Environmental Concern

Dr. Jürgen Korkhaus, Head of Materials Engineering at BASF AG, will speak on the growing environmental concerns of the petrochemical industry and how the world’s largest companies are taking a proactive approach to protecting natural resources.

“The green issue is top-of-mind for many in the specialty metals industry,” said Sutherlin. “Dr. Korkhaus will share how BASF, one of the industry’s biggest chemical suppliers, is meeting environmental challenges and helping customers find the right applications in the most efficient manner.”


The Changing Face of Engineering Support

Staffing issues and a changing engineering workforce are driving many companies to rely heavily on outside engineering support assistance. Roger Armstrong, Corporate Material Engineer at Monsanto, will discuss this growing trend and analyze the pros and cons of outsourcing technical support to consultants and manufacturers.


Presentations Feature First Chinese Presenters

In addition to keynote speakers, the conference offers a rich mix of panel discussions. Response to a call for papers yielded a substantial number of submissions on corrosion challenges currently facing the industry, including the first-ever presentations from China.

“We’ve already reached the maximum number of papers that can be presented over the course of the conference, so we are considering a poster session to give the greatest number of opportunities to presenters,” said Sutherlin. “The two engineers from China will no doubt provide unique perspectives on corrosion issues facing one of the world’s fastest growing marketplaces.”

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


Additional 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 Sutherlin.


Exhibition Hall

The conference will also allow attendees to interact with leading companies providing the latest product solutions for corrosion to the industry. A host of suppliers will be on hand each day of the conference at the sold-out Vendor Exhibition Hall, which will open at 7 a.m. and include table-top exhibits and information. Visit www.csc07.com for a full listing of exhibitors.


Registration

The conference registration fee 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.csc07.com, or by calling ATI Wah Chang at 541-926-4211 x6280.

LYNN DAVIS
President

PARRY WALBORN
Vice President — Commercial

GARY KNEISEL
Director of Sales

KIRK RICHARDSON
Managing Editor

STEPHANIE O'CONNOR
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.

ATI Wah Chang
(headquarters)
P.O. Box 460
Albany, Oregon 97321
T 541.926.4211
F 541.967.6990
www.wahchang.com
www.corrosionsolutions.com
www.wahchanglabs.com

Sales/Tech Support
T 541.967.6977
F 541.967.6994
custserv@wahchang.com

CPI Service Center — US
T 541.917.6739
F 541.924.6882
ellen.baumgartner@wahchang.com

CPI Products
T 541.967.6906

Nuclear-Grade Alloys
T 541.967.6914

Ti, V, and Nb Products
T 541.967.6977

ATI Allvac
PO Box 5030
Monroe North, Carolina 28111-5030
T 704.289.4511
www.allvac.com

ATI Allegheny Ludlum
500 Six PPG Place
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
T 800.258.3586
www.alleghenyludlum.com