Yorkshire Profiles provides precision laser cutting and fabrication services for titanium sheet and plate using modern fibre laser technology.
Titanium is valued for its exceptional combination of high strength, low density and excellent corrosion resistance, making it an important engineering material for demanding applications where performance and weight are critical.
We can currently laser cut titanium up to 8mm thick, subject to the specific grade, component geometry and cutting requirements.
Unlike our more commonly processed materials, we do not routinely hold titanium in stock due to its relatively high material cost. We can, however, source suitable titanium grades for customer projects. As a result, lead times for titanium components can sometimes be longer than for standard mild steel, stainless steel or aluminium orders.
What Is Titanium?
Titanium is a lightweight metallic element with a density of approximately 4.5 g/cm³, considerably lower than conventional steels while still offering excellent mechanical properties.
This gives titanium and its alloys an extremely useful strength-to-weight ratio.
Titanium also naturally forms a stable protective oxide layer, providing excellent resistance to corrosion in many aggressive environments.
Typical characteristics include:
- Excellent strength-to-weight ratio
- Low density
- Excellent corrosion resistance
- Good fatigue resistance in appropriate grades
- Good resistance to many chemicals and marine environments
- Biocompatibility in suitable grades
- Good performance across a wide temperature range
These properties allow titanium to perform in applications where conventional steels, stainless steels or aluminium alloys may not provide the required combination of weight, strength and environmental resistance.
Titanium Grades
Titanium is available in numerous commercially pure and alloyed grades, each offering different mechanical and fabrication characteristics.
Two of the most widely encountered specifications are Grade 2 and Grade 5.
Grade 2 Titanium
Grade 2 titanium, commonly designated UNS R50400, is commercially pure titanium.
It offers excellent corrosion resistance together with good formability, weldability and moderate strength.
Typical applications include:
- Chemical processing equipment
- Heat exchangers
- Marine components
- Architectural components
- Medical and surgical equipment
- Process vessels
- General corrosion-resistant fabrications
Grade 2 is particularly useful where corrosion resistance and fabrication characteristics are more important than maximum mechanical strength.
Grade 5 Titanium – Ti-6Al-4V
Grade 5 titanium, also known as Ti-6Al-4V or UNS R56400, is one of the most widely used titanium alloys.
It contains approximately 6% aluminium and 4% vanadium and provides significantly greater strength than commercially pure titanium while retaining relatively low density.
Grade 5 is commonly used for:
- Aerospace components
- Motorsport components
- High-performance engineering
- Medical implants
- Marine equipment
- Structural components
- Specialist machinery
Where a drawing specifies a particular titanium grade or international designation, we source material against the stated specification rather than assuming different grades are interchangeable.
Uses of Titanium
Titanium is used where conventional materials cannot easily provide the same combination of strength, weight and corrosion performance.
Common applications include:
- Aerospace and aircraft components
- Marine and offshore equipment
- Chemical processing
- Medical and surgical equipment
- Motorsport
- Renewable energy equipment
- Heat exchangers
- Architectural components
- High-performance engineering
- Specialist recreational equipment
Its resistance to seawater and many chemical environments also makes titanium particularly valuable for marine and process-industry applications.
Titanium vs Stainless Steel
Titanium and stainless steel are both corrosion-resistant engineering materials, but they offer different advantages.
Titanium has a much lower density than stainless steel — approximately 4.5 g/cm³ compared with around 8 g/cm³ for many stainless steels — allowing significant weight reduction where an appropriate titanium grade can provide the required mechanical properties.
Titanium can also offer outstanding corrosion resistance in environments where certain stainless steels may require careful grade selection.
However, titanium is substantially more expensive and is not normally selected where a conventional stainless or carbon steel can provide the required performance economically.
Material choice should therefore be based on the actual mechanical, environmental and commercial requirements of the component.
Titanium Laser Cutting
Titanium requires controlled processing because it reacts readily with oxygen and other atmospheric gases when heated.
Our fibre laser cutting systems allow us to process titanium accurately while controlling the cutting parameters and assist gas required for the material.
Compared with older laser technologies, modern fibre systems are particularly well suited to processing a much broader range of metals, including specialist non-ferrous materials such as titanium.
We can currently laser cut titanium sheet and plate up to 8mm thick, depending on:
- Titanium grade
- Material thickness
- Component geometry
- Edge-quality requirements
- Subsequent fabrication processes
Our additional in-house capabilities include:
- CNC folding and press braking
- Drilling and tapping
- Welding and fabrication where appropriate
- Assembly
This allows titanium components to progress beyond simple flat laser-cut profiles where the project requires additional manufacturing operations.
Titanium Supply and Lead Times
Because titanium is a comparatively expensive specialist material, Yorkshire Profiles does not routinely stock titanium sheet or plate.
Instead, material is normally sourced specifically for each project according to:
- Required titanium grade
- Thickness
- Sheet or plate size
- Certification requirements
- Quantity
This allows us to supply the correct specification without passing the cost of holding rarely used titanium stock onto customers.
It does mean that lead times can be longer than for materials we routinely stock, particularly where a specific grade, thickness or certification is required.
If your project has a fixed delivery date, we recommend including this when enquiring so that material availability can be checked as early as possible.
If you require titanium laser cutting or fabrication:
