How to make titanium metal products beautiful, inseparable from a variety of surface treatment technology, this article to take stock of titanium metal 7 surface treatment processes, see what you know!

1. Anodizing

Anodizing, as a mature process well known to the public, will not be introduced here. In addition to the commonly used aluminum alloy anode, titanium metal can also be used as an anode, and most of the titanium coloring process is achieved through anodic oxidation, which can make more rich colors and patterns, highly differentiated, including ice crystal, thread and other options.

In addition to decoration, the anodizing process also plays a role in forming a dense film on the metal surface of the product, enhancing mechanical properties, wear resistance and weather resistance, insulation, and improving the bonding force with the coating.

It is worth mentioning here that titanium alloy is different from aluminum alloy, although the cost of titanium anode is higher, the hardness of the oxide film formed by titanium alloy is worse than itself. Therefore, in general, many manufacturers choose to do the anode on the surface of pure titanium products, such as several products in the figure, are the anode effect of TC4 pure titanium surface.

Most titanium products are colored by anodic oxidation process, but then they must be combined with some surface processes to do protection. For example, the iPhone 15 Pro, in addition to the primary color titanium silver, the other three colors (black, white, blue) are anodized technology. This is followed by PVD for functional protection.

Second, PVD coating

PVD is also a kind of physical vapor deposition, vacuum coating, and the process has been very mature. It is possible to do PVD on the surface of titanium alloy, mainly to increase the functional coating and play a role in protection and protection. However, it is worth noting that at present, PVD can only be functional to barely pass, and the durability needs to be improved, unless the performance of the PVD substrate material is very good.

Taking iPhone 15 Pro as an example, 4 color matching: black titanium, white titanium, blue titanium, natural titanium, in addition to the primary color titanium silver, the other three color matching on the basis of the anode with PVD coating process, in order to increase the surface performance of the product, but there are still adverse conditions such as fading, but also reflect the lack of PVD in durability.

Of course, in addition to functionality, coloring effects can also be achieved. In general, it can greatly improve the design grade of the product.

3. CNC

CNC machining of titanium alloy mainly plays the role of shaping and finishing. One of the biggest problems in the machining process is the loss of the tool. Because titanium alloy is relatively hard, the processing difficulty is higher than other metals. In the process of processing, the tool is subjected to high temperature, large cutting force, long friction distance, large vibration deformation, and serious tool wear. It is difficult to process titanium alloy with traditional tools, and it is necessary to use special composite coating knives, even diamond knives, and CBN knives to perform better mechanical processing. In the case of smart watches, for example, the average production of 4 watch cases will lose 1 tool, the cost is huge.

Four, grinding and polishing

Grinding and polishing is almost a necessary step for every material processing, the purpose is to make the product show a more accurate size, a more delicate texture, often need to use small polishing particles or consumables on the surface of the product at each position to be finely polished. At the same time, through a specific process scheme, special effects can also be achieved, such as high gloss mirror, matte scrub and so on.

Five, drawing

The titanium surface can be brushed to create a matte finish. This titanium wire drawing effect is very high in the consumer electronics industry products, taking into account the delicate touch and visual beauty, and is recognized and favored by more consumers.

Six, laser carving

There are mainly laser drilling and welding processes.

Seven, sand blasting

The main purpose of the titanium alloy surface sandblasting process is mainly functional. Including improving the surface adhesion of titanium metal, improving the service life (removing surface impurities, etc.) and increasing the surface flatness and beauty of the product. It can also be understood as the effect of serving other surface treatment processes.

One of Apple's new patents mentions titanium alloys and the sandblasting process. The new sandblasting process is combined with etching and anodic oxidation to achieve the treatment of titanium alloy surface effects. It can eliminate roughness and extract essence to achieve better protection and appearance. It is understood that Apple's latest iPhone 15 Pro titanium metal frame uses the sandblasting process.

In the surface treatment of titanium metal products, especially in the field of precision electronic products, the better means is to make the appearance of dissimilar metal composite. The pain point is that the cost is relatively high, because the dissimilar metal composite must maintain their special properties and characteristics, while meeting the large-scale production, so the price is more expensive. Apple's latest iPhone 15 Pro is a new structural design, wrapped in a new secondary structure made of 100% recycled aluminum metal, the use of new thermal machining and other processes, through the solid diffusion of ultra-high pressure to make the two metals for high strength. However, the actual effect is still unsatisfactory, and the surface treatment technology of titanium metal needs to be further improved.