References .....................................................................................................................................396

Titanium and its alloys have been used in numerous applications for more than forty years.

The primary beneficiaries of titanium alloys applications have been the aerospace, biome-

dical, petrochemical, and jewelry industries. In each area of its application, the salient

properties of titanium are tailored. For instance, in the aerospace industry resistance to

crack initiation and growth, tailorability of microstructure, fatigue behavior under cryogenic

conditions, and resilience to creep makes the use of titanium alloys ideal. A typical appli-

cation of titanium alloys in aero-engines is shown in Figure 11.1 [1]. Figure 11.2 also shows

the recreational use of titanium in high-end golf clubs [1]. In the biomedical industry,

corrosion resistance, malleability, and biocompatibility are the desired properties of titanium

alloys’ use. In the petrochemical industries where corrosion of storage facilities may have

dire environmental implications, the resistivity of titanium to corrosion makes it an ideal

choice. Titanium research saw an increase in activity in the late 1960s and 1970s [2,3].

Preliminary work during this period focused on microstructural processing and phase

transformations [4], the role of microstructure in fatigue crack growth behavior [5-10],

and tailorability of microstructure to specific applications [4].