I'm not up on all the metallurgy issues involved and I just was thinking if they can make an exhaust system out of titanium and save weight, why not the entire frame?

Seems like it might be a doable thing. I'd guess that titanium could be processed in a similar manner as the hydroformed steel frames are today. Sure, it is more expensive, but wouldn't it save a tremendous amount of weight and still provide plenty of structural strength?

What would be the technical issues of using titanium for the frame?

I guess this could go in general, but it seems more techy to me.

 

Considering the price the exhaust costs to buy and weld, and the cost of Ti framed bikes, I'd say the car would cost too much to produce in a Ti frame no matter what the benifits would be.

 

I am familiar with the mechanical properties of titanium and steel....

There is no major benefit for using titanium in an application like a frame where the major considerations are stiffness and weight... ti and steel have similar stiffness to weight ratios. of course cost also plays into the decision.

In the case of the exhaust, stiffness is not a primary concern, but weight, formability, and corrosion resistance are dominant. I think they probably chose titanium because they couldn't form a thin (ner) walled stainless steel tube to match the weight savings of a titanium tube... (and titanium sounds :cool: ) Since ti is about 60% of the density of steel, you could make the system the same thickness and save 40% on the weight... I know the weight saved is about 20 pounds, but I don't know the percentage saving.

Since the golfers among us have driven up the price of titanium, it is very possible that the C7 or C8 Corvette will be an aluminum monocoque construction, a la the Jaguar XJ and XK, Audi A8, Acura NSZ, etc. The raw material is relatively inexpensive, and these automakers claim incredible increases in stiffness to weight ratio, far beyond what the material properties suggest, I think because they are optimizing the geometric construction as well as the materials. :D

It is gonna be interesting!!!!

Regards...

Len :seeya

 

Ti is far too expensive per pound compared to mild steel. I would expect to see aluminum, or carbon-reinforced or carbon-wrapped aluminums first.

As to hydroforming, Ti wouldn't be amenable to that process. It's more 'brittle' and work-hardenable. They'd lose too many pieces to cracks and blowouts.

 

Cool. I was just looking at the Ti exhaust system on my garage floor before I installed it. I wondered if it could be done. Also saw the Nova episode on the fighter competition and how one of the large structural components was CNC machined out of a huge solid billet of titanium. (cool episode) I suppose aluminum would be a cheaper and better choice than titanium.