High Value Manufacturing For The Castings Technology International (CTI) Large Scale Titanium Casting Facility

AMRC Castings’ new furnace is part of a major £15 million investment that will enable the UK to compete on a global scale, producing some of the biggest titanium aerospace castings in the world. The new furnace will be capable of pouring 1000kg of Titanium, the amount required to make a 500kg casting and has three interchangeable crucibles.
Titanium is very valuable in the aerospace industry, with $3.4 billion of worldwide demand, used in a variety of aircraft engine and structures components. Titanium is 30% stronger than steel and nearly 50% lighter. Compared to aluminium, it is twice as strong and has excellent strength retention to over 500 degrees celsius.
In addition to the benefit for the aerospace industry, there is also significant value for other industries. This has already been demonstrated in the nuclear sector, delivering significant cost reductions, which could be worth up £150m for Sellafield.
Several leading UK businesses have already expressed their interests in utilising the titanium castings capability, in the near future, including: Rolls-Royce, Airbus and GKN Aerospace. Previously, the United States dominated this market and was the only country capable of producing such large castings. However, the investment at the AMRC will, enable the UK to compete globally, building on the organisations extensive expertise in manufacturing smaller titanium castings.
“We plan to create a world class Titanium casting capability in the UK developing the skills base necessary to enable companies to reap the rewards of carrying out a process that is very, very challenging,” commented AMRC Castings’ Commercial Manager, Richard Gould.
Furnace construction is due to finish in time for training and cold commissioning, to start during November 2016, and will be followed by hot commissioning and the first test melts in December.