Abstract
"The element titanium was discovered in 1790 by the Reverend William Gregor an Englishman from Cornwall England. Titanium is ninth in abundance or o.62 percent of the total of the elements making up the lithosphere. It is exceeded in amount only by oxygen, silicon, aluminum, iron, magnesium, calcium, sodium and potassium. Titanium is a constituent of practically all crystalline rocks and of sediments derived from them. Its chief mineralogical occurrence is as oxides in such minerals as ilmenite and rutile, which are the chief ores of titanium metal….
The titanium metal used in the project discussed in this thesis was produced by the Rem-Cru Titanium Inc., located at Midland, Pennsylvania. Their commercially pure grade RC 70 was the titanium metal used in this project. Since the completion of the project this grade designation has been changed by Rem-Cru to A-70….
The project covered by this thesis consisted of manufacturing four left hand and four right hand titanium magazines for 3”/50 caliber twin and single gun mounts. The contract was let by the Navy Bureau of Ordnance to the Universal Match Corporation, Ferguson, Missouri. This writer was assigned to the project as Project Engineer. The drawings of the magazines submitted to us by the Bureau of Ordnance called for stainless steel construction. Our contract stipulated that only minor design changes were to be made from the original stainless steel magazines. These changes were to be the only changes in the design which would be necessary in substituting titanium for stainless steel. Most of the changes made were for fabrication purposes. These changes will be explained later in the thesis when the discussion of the step by step fabrication procedure of the magazines will be explained. It is the opinion of this writer that the reason for making the magazines from titanium instead of stainless steel was to create a facility to fabricate titanium metal. At the time this contract was awarded there were very few companies who knew how to fabricate titanium. There was a very small amount of published literature available, so this writer had to visit a few of the companies on the East Coast to learn what little information there was available on the fabrication of titanium.
At the present time, the cost of metallic titanium is far above that of the more common structural metals. This high cost is due primarily to the costly Kroll Process of making the metallic sponge. Another expensive process is in the melting of the sponge in the crucible furnaces. These furnaces have to be operated in either a vacuum or in an inert atmosphere, because titanium metal above 1200°F will pick up oxygen and nitrogen from the atmosphere, and the oxides and nitrides thus formed will create a brittle structure and greatly reduce the strength of the titanium. This characteristic of titanium is what makes the welding of the metal so difficult.
Due to the prohibitive cost of titanium the Government is the only customer for the metal. It is hoped that with new processes for making sponge and new developments in melting titanium, along with improved fabrication methods, the price of titanium will come down to where it will be competitive to the other common structural metals.
Before discussing the fabrication processes performed during this project, a description of the magazine for a 3”/50 caliber twin and single gun mount will be given along with a photograph of the magazine, to enable the reader to better understand the actual fabrication of this project"--Introduction, pages 1, 3-6.
Advisor(s)
Eppelsheimer, Daniel S., 1909-1988
Department(s)
Materials Science and Engineering
Degree Name
Professional Degree in Metallurgical Engineering
Publisher
Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy
Publication Date
1955
Pagination
iv, 41 pages
Note about bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (page 40).
Rights
© 1955 John M. Thorp, All rights reserved.
Document Type
Thesis - Open Access
File Type
text
Language
English
Subject Headings
Titanium -- MetallurgyMetallic composites -- TestingOrdnance
Thesis Number
T 1093
Print OCLC #
18253724
Electronic OCLC #
953457387
Recommended Citation
Thorp, John Marshall, "The experimental fabrication of titanium magazines for 3 inch 50 caliber twin and single gun mounts" (1955). Professional Degree Theses. 309.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/professional_theses/309
