/PRCWT/Beijing, October 30, 2023 - According to relevant news, Honor, Apple, Samsung and other mainstream 3C manufacturers have begun to introduce titanium alloy materials to varying degrees, and titanium alloy is accelerating penetration into the field of consumer electronics such as mobile phones, smart wear, lithography computers, and laptops. The growth space of titanium alloy industry is expected to continue to open.
Compared with traditional stainless steel, aluminum alloy and other materials, titanium metal can better take into account the hardness and weight of parts, can be light and hard, and can better meet the thin and light needs of 3C products.
At present, titanium alloy processing technology mainly includes CNC cutting grinding and 3D metal printing. Due to the characteristics of titanium alloy material, the processing links (forming, grinding and polishing) compared with aluminum alloy, the use of cutting grinding to process titanium alloy products has low yield, long time, large equipment demand and other difficulties. Taking the frame of the mobile phone as an example, according to Aibang polymer data, the overall yield of the frame of the titanium alloy mobile phone is about 30%-40%, far lower than the 80% of the aluminum alloy frame; And the processing time is long, about 3-4 times that of aluminum alloy. As a new direction for titanium alloy processing, metal 3D printing is based on the rapid manufacturing of three-dimensional models of parts, does not require special molds, applies powdered metal materials, and uses layer-by-layer printing methods to construct objects, which has the characteristics of high convenience, high precision and low cost. In addition, in the field of titanium alloy, hot isostatic pressing can effectively improve the mechanical properties of titanium alloy workpiece, reduce the cost of titanium alloy, improve production efficiency and material utilization.
It is worth noting that metal 3D printing also needs to be combined with the grinding and polishing process of CNC machine tools. Since 3D printed parts usually have rough surfaces, additional post-processing, such as machining, grinding, or polishing, is required to obtain a smooth surface with high precision. Due to the characteristics of titanium alloy materials, the value of processing links (forming, grinding and polishing) is higher, and the consumption of processing consumables is greater. 3D printing is one of the titanium alloy forming methods, began large-scale industrialization, after grinding and polishing (finishing process) value is expected to increase significantly.
Changying Precision, Platite, Golden Sun and other companies have clearly stated that the company is involved in titanium alloy 3D printing technology. In its 2023 semi-annual report, Changying Precision disclosed that titanium alloy will become a new choice for consumer electronics customers because of its high hardness and strong antibacterial properties, and the company is cooperating with major customers to implement the full production process of titanium alloy materials and prepare for mass production of subsequent projects.
