By Saiful Bahri Kamaruddin
Pix Izwan Azman

BANGI, 10 May 2016 – More research has to be done to find new ways of processing Titanium, a metal that is becoming increasingly important not just  in the Aerospace sector, but also in medicine where high-tensile strength and rust-resistance are vital.

A researcher at The National University of Malaysia (UKM) says present methods of extracting, processing and machining titanium are still too costly and time-consuming, contributing to the rising price of the metal.

Prof. Dr. Che Hassan Che Haron of the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, at the Faculty of Engineering and Built environment says titanium  is as strong as steel but two-thirds lighter, and  twice as strong as Aluminium.

Prof Che Hassan  said countries such as Malaysia might lose out in the hi-tech metal industry because it needs to import Titanium in which only the developed nations can afford to extract and process the versatile metal, says

“The processes required to extract titanium from its various ores are laborious and costly, as you can’t use carbon reduction like other metals,”  he explained  in his Premier Lecture titled Sustainable Machining of Titanium Alloy For The Aerospace Industry, here recently.

He said this means other reducing agents such as Sodium and Magnesium, which neither one Malaysia has, are by themselves costlier than carbon to extract, have to be used for titanium.

Titanium and its alloys are used in airplanes, missiles and rockets where strength, low weight and resistance to high temperatures are important. Since titanium does not react within the human body, it is used to create artificial hips, pins for setting bones and for other biological implants.

Prof Che Hassan, who did his PhD thesis on machining titanium in Britain, said present machining methods are also very costly and dangerous.

He explained the machining processes such Minimum Quality Lubrication (MQL) and Dry Machining, have disadvantages as well as advantages.

MQL uses lubricants in a so-called ‘flooding’ process that is expensive, while Dry Machining is not good for the health of workers.