Titanium was discovered by Gregor in Cornwall, England in 1791. However, due to the difficulty of mining and smelting, it gradually developed in the middle of the 20th century. Titanium has the characteristics of high strength, good corrosion resistance and high heat resistance and is widely used in various fields. Many countries in the world have recognized the importance of titanium alloy materials, and have successively carried out research and development on them, and have been put into practical applications. For a long time, titanium materials were mainly used in aerospace and military fields. After entering the new century, the development of titanium civilian products industry began to catch up.
What are the excellent characteristics of titanium and titanium alloys?
1. High strength.
2. High hardness.
3. Low elastic modulus.
4. Excellent high temperature and low temperature performance.
5. Titanium has strong corrosion resistance.
The materials for making watches are mainly made of various precious metals and stainless steel. Because precious metals are mainly used in high-end brand watches, such as: stainless steel is mainly 316L steel and Rolex patented 904L steel. Progress, the high-tech material titanium has been applied to watch manufacturing.
Titanium has very good advantages as a watch material:
1. Titanium watches are quite comfortable to wear because they are surprisingly light;
2. Titanium is hypoallergenic, it does not contain nickel, and it is comfortable to wear even when the skin is sweating;
3. Because titanium is harder than steel, titanium watches are more durable;
4. The characteristics of corrosion resistance make titanium metal especially suitable for diving watches;
5. As a recyclable metal, titanium is also very environmentally friendly.
Can titanium alloy be used as the movement material of a mechanical watch?
Regrettably, it is not possible. Compared with steel, titanium alloy has the main advantages of low density and strong corrosion resistance, but its absolute hardness and strength are not as good as steel, and its workability is very poor. The problem is that it has low brightness and is easy to be scratched, so it needs to be protected by a coating (plating) layer. Many small holes on the deck are very small, and irregular cutting requires higher cutting tools. If the strength of the splint is high, it will be more difficult to process. In addition, the hardness of the splint material is not required for the watch movement. At the same time, the anti-wear is handled by gem bearings. Of course, some small parts have high-strength materials, but small parts are easy to be processed regularly. Therefore, copper alloy is more suitable for the splint material. Although copper rusts and is not wear-resistant, it is cheap, easy to cut, and can be solved in a relatively "low-cost" way by coating, lubricating oil, ruby bearings, steel parts and other components.
Titanium Alloy Fiyta Space Watch
On October 15, 2003, China's first manned spacecraft "Shenzhou V" was successfully launched, realizing the millennium dream of the Chinese nation to travel in space. China's first space watch, the FIYTA space watch, also accompanied astronaut Yang Liwei after 21 hours and 23 minutes of travel in space, and returned to the earth successfully, officially becoming the world's third largest space watch after Switzerland's Omega and the former Soviet Union's Fortis. A watch brand that can fly into space.
Taking the complex and unpredictable harsh environment in space into account, such as atmospheric negative pressure weightlessness, temperature, radiation, atomic oxygen, vibration, acceleration, etc., all aerospace instruments and equipment must have the ability to maintain high accuracy, precision and reliability in harsh environments. ability. For astronauts, time is everything, and all space missions are carefully timed.
"Shenzhou V" astronaut Yang Liwei must not only master the time according to the space watch, keep accurate time synchronization with the ground command center far away in Beijing, but also complete various operations of the spacecraft and space in accordance with the experimental work. This place demands on the performance of the space watches extremely high.
A qualified aerospace watch must meet at least the following five points:
1. Vibration resistance and acceleration overload resistance. Because the space environment is extremely harsh, especially during the launch and recovery stages of the spacecraft, it must be able to withstand high overload and strong vibrations to prevent the watch from malfunctioning.
2, resistant to pure oxygen environment. Ensure the safety of the watch and the endurance of the strap in a pure oxygen environment.
3. It is resistant to radiation and magnetic field environments. It can maintain timing accuracy under the strong radiation and high magnetic field environment in space.
4. Negative pressure environment. In space, the watch is in a negative pressure environment where the internal pressure is higher than the external pressure, and the watch needs to be able to ensure air tightness in the negative pressure environment.
5. Ergonomic design. In the airtight cabin, the astronauts' movements will be limited to a certain extent, and the watch needs to be particularly easy to operate and observe, and is clear and easy to read.
Ordinary watch materials cannot meet these demanding requirements. Therefore, in addition to the traditional stainless steel material, the Fiyta space watch also uses special nylon elastic material and space metal titanium alloy. The special nylon elastic material is mainly used for the strap part, which can maintain elasticity in various environments and ensure the safety of wearing. The hardness and corrosion resistance of titanium alloys are better than those of stainless steel, but the weight is lighter than that of stainless steel.
From Shenzhou 5 to Shenzhou 10, FIYTA space watch has always accompanied Chinese astronauts to perform ground training and space flight missions, and has become a loyal participant in China's aerospace industry, proving to the world the charm of Chinese manufacturing.
