Titanium is well known for its anti-corrosive properties and for its resistance-to-weight ratio. It is light, hard and has a low density.

Like aluminium, when exposed to air, titanium forms a passive oxide coating. It is resistant to dilute sulphuric acid and to hydrochloric acid, as well as to chlorine gases, chloride solutions and most carboxylic acids.

Titanium is divided into different grades which, in turn, are subdivided into commercially pure titanium grades and titanium alloys.

Commercially pure titanium grades:

GR 1 – commercially pure, the softest and most ductile, with the greatest formability. It has excellent corrosion resistance and high resilience properties.
GR 2 – commercially pure; the most widely used for industrial purposes due to its many possible uses and wide availability. It is slightly stronger than GR1.
GR 3 – less used than commercially pure titanium grades. In terms of its ductility, it is similar to grades 1 and 2, and only sightly less deformable. However, it has better mechanical properties.
GR 4 – the strongest of the four grades of commercially pure titanium. It is also known for its excellent anti-corrosion properties, good formability and weldability.

Titanium alloys:

Ti 6Al-4V GR 5 – the most widely used titanium alloy; its resistance can be increased with heat-treatment.

Other commercial titanium grades: GR 7, GR 9 , GR 11, GR 12 and GR 23.