Laboratory

TriTech Titanium Parts supports an extensive laboratory for the analysis of inbound raw materials, in-process control, and outbound products. The lab enables TriTech Titanium Parts to monitor the quality of its products throughout the entire production cycle. TriTech Titanium Parts’s lab equipment is subjected to stringent and routine tests to verify it is performing correctly.

TriTech Titanium Parts is committed to accurate and timely analysis for all of its internal and external requirements. Due to the nature of the somewhat inconsistent raw materials, there is a lot of analysis required to make sure we are producing a consistent final product to meet our customers’ requirements.

Raw materials are evaluated upon receipt to insure that they meet appropriate criteria for processing. This testing can be broken into two groups: testing of titanium solids and testing of titanium turnings.

The majority of testing of titanium solids is accomplished with the use of two Vericheck TestMaster Pro units and three Spectrotest units. Testing is performed on material after receipt and before the material is released to the plant for consumption.

Depending on the type of material received, solids are subject to either a general evaluation or a 100% sort wherein each piece of metal is tested independently. The metal is segregated by alloy type and released to the plant for a number of different processes.

When titanium turnings are received, samples are taken and evaluated for the presence of oil, moisture, and magnetic content. These results are then reported to the buyer for review before receipts are settled for payment. See a complete description of the sampling and testing procedures for turnings.

For most all of TriTech Titanium Parts’s products, an additional round of analysis is performed during the processing of the product. Typically this occurs when the processing of material involves some type of blending or if the process changes the characteristics of the metal. The best example of this is ferrotitanium.

Ferrotitanium (FeTi) is produced by melting titanium scrap to produce a 70% titanium product. For each 2,000 pound heat of ferrotitanium, a sample is taken and analyzed in the lab. The analysis is then recorded along with other analyses from other heats and the analyses are used to create a blend of material to meet customer specifications. Once the product is blended additional testing, such as tap density or apparent density, may be performed if required by the customer.

TriTech Titanium Parts also performs analysis on titanium scrap products during processing to insure they will meet customer specifications. In order to prepare samples for analysis, a button furnace is used to melt the titanium so that the sample is uniform and can be tested properly. Once the testing is performed, results are again recorded and used either for blending or as a mid-process check to insure processing is having the desired effects on the metal.

Before products leave the TriTech Titanium Parts premises, verification is required that the product meets the customer’s required chemical composition. Depending on the product, this testing may have been completed during the processing, or there is testing performed on the finished product before shipment. Once results are achieved, they are compared with the customer’s required specifications to insure the product meets the needs of the customer.