Titanium

**Titanium** is a chemical element with the symbol **Ti** and an atomic number of 22. It is one of the key elements used in much of Japan's technology and military might.

## Overview

Titanium is a transitional metal that is silver in color, has high corrosion resistance, a high melting point, and the highest strength-to-density ratio for metals. Even in its unalloyed form, titanium is as strong as some steels but less dense. Once refined and combined with other metals, titanium alloys are among the strongest and lightest building materials available.

Due to its properties, processing and refining titanium is very complicated and time-consuming. Machining titanium and its alloys is also very difficult. So far, only Japan has the knowledge of how to process, refine and utilize titanium and its alloys in the New World.

## Uses

* Aerospace
* Marine
* Automotive
* Computer components
* Infrastructure
* Military
* Construction
* Domestic products
* Communication
* Medical
* Dental
* Robotics

## Titanium Alloys

By itself, pure titanium is already a strong metal. Commercial (99.2% purity) grades of titanium have an ultimate tensile strength of about 434 MPa, equal to that of common, low-grade steel alloys, but are less dense. Titanium is 60% denser than aluminum, but more than twice as strong as the most commonly used 6061-T6 aluminum alloy.

However, when combined with other metals, (especially aluminum and vanadium), titanium alloys exhibit far greater tensile strength, hardness, temperature resistance and overall durability. Its low density makes it perfect for industrial uses requiring a strong metal with a high melting point. A mixture of 4% aluminum, 2.5% vanadium, and 1.5% iron will give you a Grade 38 titanium alloy that can used for tank armor. Aircraft grade titanium alloy has 6% aluminum and 4% vanadium. Grade 9 titanium has 3% aluminum and 2.5% vanadium, and are used for aircraft tubes and surprisingly, bicycle frames. The most commonly used titanium alloy is Grade 5, which contains 6% aluminum, 4% vanadium, 0.25% (maximum) iron, and 0.2% (maximum) oxygen. In addition to being stronger than pure titanium, the alloy is still heat-treatable and can be shaped with relative ease.

## Titanium in the New World

On Earth, titanium was the 9th-most abundant element in its crust. Amazingly, in the New World, titanium is just as abundant if not more so. Even more amazing is that titanium is treated as a 'junk ore' due to the fact that it has no magical properties, and almost no country in the New World has access to a forge, that can heat up to 18000 degrees Fahrenheit, to smelt the ore. As a result, titanium has less value than common iron ore.

Since titanium is seen as low-value, mining nations such as the Meerky Kingdom are more than happy to sell it to Japan at dirt-cheap prices, not realizing that the metal is one of the primary ingredients to Japan's technological and military might and the fact that the Japanese are swindling them by taking advantage of their ignorance. This is especially true with Japan's jet technology as all jet fighters are best made with titanium to resist friction and G-forces. Furthermore, the methods for processing and refining titanium are closely-guarded secrets. Regardless of being used by civilians or the military, the processing of Titanium is a part of the restricted technology that Japan is not allowed to export under any circumstances.