The leading manufacturer and global distributor of precision tubes for critical applications, Fine Tubes, is in the process of creating seamless Grade 9 and Grade 5 titanium tubing for both Airbus A380 and Liebherr.
Fine Tubes is one of the few companies in the industry with the ability and means to produce products of this caliber. The titanium tubing will be used in the high-pressure hydraulic systems required for the Airbus A380 and for the high lift transmission systems designed by Liebherr for the A350 XWB. The latter is scheduled for service in 2014.
Titanium’s density is roughly 60 percent of steel-or nickel-based alloys providing significant weight savings despite its tensile strength being greater than austenitic or ferritic stainless steels. It also has a melting point higher than steel alloys and is highly corrosion resistant and is non-magnetic.
Mr. Paul Mallett, Fine Tubes’ business development manager aerospace, has commented, “The advantages that titanium offers in terms of weight saving and strength make it an ideal material for high performance aircraft applications and we are seeing a definite increase in its specification by a range of end users from the aerospace to the offshore to the medical equipment industries.”