What Is Grade 1 Titanium?

On the scale of the four grades of titanium grade 1 is the softest and most ductile of these grades. Titanium is well known for its properties of lightness, strength, and high corrosion resistance, and grade 1 titanium possesses the greatest formability, excellent corrosion resistance, and high impact toughness.

Titanium grade 1 is considered commercially pure and microstructurally, it is an alpha-phase alloy. The difference between the four grades lies in the amount of interstitial elements added to each grade. Titanium grade 1 contains the least interstitial elements and has the lowest ultimate tensile stress. Tensile stress is the resistance of an object to a force that could tear it apart. Grade 1 is the easiest grade of titanium to tear apart of the four grades. Many chemical processes use grade 1 titanium whereas other metals like stainless steel would not hold up to the corrosive fluids or temperature.

Grade 1 titanium is not suited in high-temperature ranges, above 400 degrees celsius, where it begins to lose its strength. Because of all these qualities, Grade 1 titanium is the material of choice for any application where ease of formability is required and is commonly available as titanium plates and titanium tubing. This unalloyed titanium has excellent corrosion resistance properties, excellent weldability and is used in a wide variety of applications. Grade 1 titanium is mainly used in marine and chemical industries where the parts are subjected to very harsh environments. This material is also used for fabricating anodes for cathodic protection applications.

It comes in many forms, with the most common being coil and wire. Either of these forms could be strips, foil, or ribbon as well as round, flat, or square. The cold formability of grade 1 titanium allows for manufacturing into various shapes like tubes and pipes.