TiME for Titanium

With increasing volumes from our customers, ACE has now completed the installation of its new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for the new TiME process. This further increases the capacity for titanium etching to facilitate even larger production volumes.

Titanium

• Titanium is an attractive metal for a wide range of applications thanks to its unique properties:
• Titanium is lightweight: the density of titanium is almost half the density of copper and less than 60% the density of stainless steel.
• Titanium is strong: the strength of titanium alloys is equivalent to that of most stainless steels.
• Titanium is corrosion resistant: titanium is protected by a native oxide layer that gives the metal exceptional corrosion resistance.
• Titanium is biocompatible: titanium is well accepted by biological tissue and is stable in biological environments.

The result is a metal that is light, strong, biocompatible and highly corrosion resistant. It is no wonder, then, that titanium is the metal of choice in a wide range of applications, such as:

• Aerospace: due to titanium’s very high strength-to-weight ratio, it is widely used in aerospace engines and airframe structures and components.
• Medical: titanium is used in surgical and dental implants due to the excellent biocompatibility and corrosion resistance.
• Chemical and marine: the outstanding corrosion resistance of titanium makes it ideal for use in aggressive and marine environments.

To read and download our comprehensive technical white paper:

Titanium etching Whitepaper

Nitinol

ACE now offers photo chemically etched parts in this remarkable alloy. The newly developed TiME process is capable of etching Nitinol parts to an excellent level of quality.

Nitinol is a nickel-titanium alloys that offers a unique combination of:

• super-elasticity
• shape memory, and
• corrosion resistance

Thanks to these excellent properties, Nitinol is used in a wide range of applications, including:

• Medical implants in orthopedics and orthodontics
• Stents, graft support systems and filters
• Temperature control devices
• Mechanical watch springs

The TiME process offers many advantages such as:

• Safer than the traditional etching process that employs hydrofluoric and nitric acids
• Very tight tolerances achievable
• Metal thicknesses from 25 µm to 1mm
• Etches all grades of titanium alloys (alpha, beta and nickel-titanium alloys)
• Complex features and patterns achievable
• Consistent quality
• No changes in the chemical and mechanical properties of the metal

To read and download our comprehensive technical white paper:

Etching of Nitinol