Russia's Titanium Industry is Enviable
Russia's latest Tu-160M bomber made its maiden flight on January 12, 2022. The Tu-160 bomber is a variable swept wing bomber and the largest bomber in the world, with a fully loaded take-off weight of 270 tons.
Variable-sweep-wing aircraft are the only aircraft on Earth that can change their physical shape. When the wings are open, the low speed is very good, which is convenient for take-off and landing; when the wings are closed, the resistance is small, which is convenient for high-altitude and high-speed flight.
Opening and closing the wings of an aircraft requires a hinge mechanism attached to the root of the main wing. This hinge only functions to turn the wings, contributes 0 to the aerodynamics, and pays a lot of structural weight.
That's the price a variable-sweep-wing aircraft has to pay.
Therefore, this hinge must be made of a material that is both light and strong, absolutely not steel, nor aluminum. Because steel is too heavy and aluminum is too weak, the most suitable material is titanium alloy.
The titanium alloy industry of the former Soviet Union is the world's leading industry, and this leading has been extended to Russia, inherited by Russia, and has been maintained.
The figure 160 wing root titanium alloy hinge measures 2.1 meters and is the largest variable wing hinge in the world.
Connected to this titanium hinge is a fuselage titanium box girder with a length of 12 meters, which is the longest in the world.
70% of the structural material on the Figure 160 fuselage is titanium, and the maximum overload can reach 5 G. That is to say, the structure of the fuselage of Figure 160 can bear five times its own weight without falling apart, so theoretically, this 270-ton bomber can do maneuvers similar to fighter jets.
Why is Titanium so Good?
The element titanium was discovered at the end of the 18th century, but it was only in 1910 that American scientists obtained 10 grams of pure titanium by the sodium reduction method. If a metal is to be reduced by sodium, it is very active. We usually say that titanium is very corrosion-resistant, because a dense metal oxide protective layer is formed on the surface of titanium.
In terms of mechanical properties, the strength of pure titanium is comparable to that of ordinary steel, but its density is only a little more than 1/2 of that of steel, and its melting point and boiling point are higher than those of steel, so titanium is a very good metal structural material.
Post time: Jan-17-2022