Cutting TitaniumTitanium and titanium alloys can be cut to shape or size by a range of different methods. The reactive nature of titanium means that oxygen cutting can be used, with acetylene being the most common fuel gas. During oxygen cutting an exothermic reaction similar to that experienced with steel takes place. The quality of cut achieve is not good enough to be used to weld on, so, it is common for the cut face to be machined back to sound metal prior to welding. Plasma and laser cutting are extensively used for cutting titanium with both being capable of producing high quality cuts with little or no distortion present. Although the quality of the cut is much better than for oxygen cutting most fabrication codes will require some machining to be carried out on the cut face prior to welding taking place.
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