Titanium

Titanium anodizing grows a controlled oxide layer for color coding, corrosion resistance, and biocompatible surfaces without significantly changing part dimensions.

Overview

Titanium anodizing is an electrochemical process that thickens the natural oxide layer on titanium parts to improve corrosion resistance, add stable colors, and tune surface properties. By varying voltage and surface prep, you can achieve bright decorative colors or functional finishes for medical, aerospace, and consumer parts. The coating is integral to the base metal, so it does not chip or peel like paints or platings.

Use titanium anodizing when you need color identification, enhanced corrosion resistance, or specific surface chemistry on titanium components with tight dimensional requirements. The oxide layer is thin and dimensionally stable, but it offers limited wear resistance compared to hard mechanical coatings. Process control, alloy selection, and surface preparation heavily influence final color and consistency, so plan for samples and clear specifications when aesthetics or optical properties are critical.

Common Materials

  • Titanium Grade 2
  • Titanium Grade 4
  • Titanium Grade 5 (Ti-6Al-4V)
  • Titanium Grade 9 (Ti-3Al-2.5V)
  • Titanium Grade 23 (Ti-6Al-4V ELI)

Tolerances

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Applications

  • Orthopedic implants and trauma hardware
  • Dental implants and abutments
  • Aerospace fasteners and brackets
  • High-end bicycle and moto hardware
  • Surgical instruments and tools
  • Consumer electronics housings and buttons

When to Choose Titanium

Choose titanium anodizing when the base material is titanium and you need stable colors, improved corrosion resistance, or tuned biocompatibility without adding a thick coating. It fits low to medium volumes where appearance, surface chemistry, or identification by color matters. It is especially useful when parts already rely on titanium’s mechanical properties and only the surface needs enhancement.

vs Aluminum

Pick titanium anodizing when your design already requires titanium’s strength, corrosion resistance, or biocompatibility and you want integral oxide coloring without adding another material. Aluminum anodizing is more common and cheaper, but it cannot replace titanium where mechanical or medical performance demands titanium substrate.

vs Magnesium

Use titanium anodizing when corrosion resistance and biocompatibility are critical and the part must be titanium-based. Magnesium coatings focus on corrosion protection of lightweight but reactive alloys; they are unsuitable where the base material must be titanium for strength, fatigue life, or implant use.

vs Zinc

Choose titanium anodizing instead of zinc coatings when you need a clean, inert oxide surface, precise color coding, or implant-safe chemistry. Zinc-based coatings serve as sacrificial corrosion layers on steels and other metals, while titanium anodizing is a passive, non-sacrificial layer integral to titanium components.

vs Niobium

Select titanium anodizing over niobium anodizing when your design is already standardized around titanium alloys and you need similar interference colors on a stronger, more widely available substrate. Niobium anodizing offers vivid colors, but titanium provides broader mechanical design data and established supply chains for structural and medical parts.

vs Tantalum

Use titanium anodizing instead of tantalum anodizing when cost, weight, and availability matter and titanium can meet the performance requirements. Tantalum offers exceptional corrosion resistance but is expensive and dense, while anodized titanium often meets medical and industrial surface needs at far lower cost and weight.

Design Considerations

  • Specify exact titanium grade and initial surface roughness; both strongly affect final color and appearance
  • Call out color using voltage range or approved sample chips rather than vague color names to improve repeatability
  • Avoid sharp edges and heavy burrs; they cause color variation and localized over-anodizing
  • Identify masked and contact areas clearly on drawings and models to avoid unwanted bare spots or color breaks
  • Do not rely on anodizing thickness for wear resistance; add separate hard coatings or design sacrificial surfaces if abrasion is expected
  • Flag high-stress, fatigue-critical regions so the finisher can control surface prep and avoid aggressive mechanical polishing there