Titanium sponge smaller than 100µm/150mesh - what could it be good for?

[dangerousamateur]

I've been offered some very small titanium sponge that is supposed to be smaller than 100µm/150mesh.

 

I wonder what this could be good for, do you have any idea?

Edited August 20, 2016 by dangerousamateur

[NeighborJ]

I would probably use it in a nozzleless rocket motor to give the flame some extra effect. It erodes nozzles extremely fast. Use in hot primes and fountains are ideal.

At that mesh size the sparks would be very short lived in stars or flash but may still find use in them.

[ddewees]

It works great in tourbillions and rocket delays... Heck it works great all by itself!

 

Hit a small pile of it with a torch, and you'll instantly fall in love.

 

I love super fine titanium.

[dagabu]

With that small of a mesh, it would work very well in drivers as well, it wouldn't clog the nozzle. In an endburner, I would use 5 to 10%, it should give a very nice tail.

[Arthur]

The mesh size that you need goes down as the star size goes down, so this should suit stars in 2, 3 or 4 inch shells. Bigger shells should work better with bigger Ti in bigger stars.

[dangerousamateur]

My fear would be, that this Ti will burn up completely without any tail.

Or with one so short that you cannot see it, ending up with a white star.

 

 

With that small of a mesh, it would work very well in drivers as well, it wouldn't clog the nozzle. In an endburner, I would use 5 to 10%, it should give a very nice tail.

Same here - are you sure that this will burn even outside of the driver and is not consumed inside?

[Mumbles]

That's what I would be worried about as well. Most people tend to prefer coarser material for the longer tails and sprays it provides. I don't think 150 mesh is too fine to be useful though. It will likely give a tail in stars and rockets, albeit probably a rather short one.

 

It will definitely have some uses. Electric matches for certain. It may also be a nice addition to some streamers in low quantities for a very bright head. I bet it would look pretty good in go-getters or bees or whistle inserts. Smaller shells or effects would likely accommodate it well.

[Arthur]

Smaller than 150 mesh is a wide range. I was offered 600 mesh Ti grade6 which is too fine to be usefull even if it was FOC for collection, it was swarf from spark erosion of performance car parts. Apparently 600mesh is usual for spark erosion swarf and I wasn't prepared to reprocess it with the berylium content.

[WSM]

Smaller than 150 mesh is a wide range. I was offered 600 mesh Ti grade6 which is too fine to be usefull even if it was FOC for collection, it was swarf from spark erosion of performance car parts. Apparently 600mesh is usual for spark erosion swarf and I wasn't prepared to reprocess it with the berylium content.

 

Very fine titanium powder is an interesting thing to coat on the outside of e-matches, though my preference is to use fine sponge titanium. A standard electric match, overcoated with an NC based pyrogen, and sprinkled with -400 mesh titanium sponge while the pyrogen is still wet, can create a 5" sparkle ball when fired (after it's dry).

 

If the Ti powder is 600 mesh and has Be mixed in, it should be VERY hot and it's usefulness for primes might be considerable. Be aware of the toxicity of beryllium, though. The human body has no tolerance for it.

 

WSM

[Pyroboy]

I once tested 4% Ti <100µm in shimizu willow streamer comp and got a really nice effect. It is a more dense tail than with larger Ti. On the picture you can see a 60mm zylinder shell filled with 8mm rolled stars of that type.

 

http://www.pyrobin.com/files/IMG_1102.JPG

 

 

 

You can also use this fine Ti for popping flowers. The smouldering comp needs a fine Ti to get a dense dust of sparks, when the dragon egg lights.

Edited August 24, 2016 by Pyroboy

[dagabu]

Beautiful shell!

[dangerousamateur]

Thanks guys. I got 2 pounds for intensive testing

[Pyroboy]

Thanks dagabu! And have much fun testing your Ti dangerousamateur

[dangerousamateur]

Thanks, fun is guaranteed i think

[mabuse00]

These "popping flowers" or dandelions are on my to do list too.

 

Another interesting use is to prime visco fuse with this stuff, for some applications this is very helpful.