When To Choose Titanium Dowel Pins

Dowel pins are usually a component that is designed and manufactured with permanence in mind. Many components in automotive, marine, and manufacturing are considered sacrificial, or at least candidates for regular maintenance or replacement. Dowel pins are one of the simplest components in assembled machinery, but also the most likely to stay in service indefinitely. Because engineers realize their importance, specialty pins are more likely to be purchased from suppliers like marafast that carry pins made from materials that will last longer under rough conditions. That’s why pins made from titanium are becoming more common than pins made from any other materials. When durability counts, titanium dowel pins are best.

Light Weight and High Performance

Technically, titanium dowel pins aren’t quite as strong as common steel pins. They have other properties that make them work better than steel in many applications however. Dowel-pins made from Grade 2 titanium blanks have a tensile strength of 30,000 PSI, slightly less than steel, but they weigh as much as 60 percent less. That can make a big difference for design tolerances, and for dowel pins used on spinning objects, the beneficial effects are multiplied.

The benefits of choosing titanium dowel pins over conventional pins don’t stop there. Titanium is much more effective in environments that include high temperatures. Not only do they expand and contract less, they keep their tensile strength through a much wider range of temperatures. Dowel pins often need to perform under very challenging conditions, and the harsher the environment, the more important it becomes for them to stay in service.

Temperature extremes aren’t the only way titanium pins outperform steel. In marine environments, steel pins can begin to corrode quickly when exposed to seawater, and chemicals like chlorine. Titanium stays intact and strong in even with harsh chemical exposures, ensuring continued performance over time.

Better For Close-Tolerance Work

Because dowel pins made from titanium don’t expand and contract with temperature as much as steel, they can be machined to closer tolerances without worrying about them fitting in their assigned holes. Many engineers were required to make pins that fit very loosely in order to make sure that they always fit. Loose-fitting dowels are much more likely to wear away slowly from vibration, which increases the chance of shearing off as well.

Pins made from titanium machine easily and hold their dimensions well, so they’re great for aligning objects without play in components. This is especially important in industries like automotive where resisting shear forces are a paramount consideration. Many automobile differential casings, and transmission parts use titanium pins for trouble-free performance in challenging environments.

To further avoid play and misalignment, engineers will commonly specify an interference fit. This means that the dowel is machined to the same or slightly higher diameter as the hole in the component that receives it. Titanium is often used for interference fit dowels.

Titanium dowel pins are available in fractional sizes, in both metric and imperial measurements, and they’re usually available right off the shelf, unlike more exotic metals like Monel. That means you can feel free to specify them for demanding alignment applications without worrying about lag times in order fulfillment.

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