If it wasn’t for the A-12 project (and its precursors and successors), then we simply wouldn’t be able to build things out of titanium.
That is not an accurate summary of the linked article.
In 1952, another titanium symposium was held, this one sponsored by the Army’s Watertown Arsenal. By then, titanium was being manufactured in large quantities, and while the prior symposium had been focused on laboratory studies of titanium’s physical and chemical properties, the 1952 symposium was a “practical discussion of the properties, processing, machinability, and similar characteristics of titanium”. While physical characteristics of titanium still took center stage, there was a practical slant to the discussions – how wide a sheet of titanium can be produced, how large an ingot of it can be made, how can it be forged, or pressed, or welded, and so on. Presentations were by titanium fabricators, but also by metalworking companies that had been experimenting with the metal.
That’s before the A-12.
In 1966, another titanium symposium was held, this one sponsored by the Northrup Corporation. By this time, titanium had been used successfully for many years, and the purpose of this symposium was to “provide technical personnel of diversified disciplines with a working knowledge of titanium technology.” This time, the lion’s share of the presentations are by aerospace companies experienced in working with the metal, and the uncertain air that existed in the 1952 symposium is gone.
At that point, the A-12 program was still classified and the knowledge gained from it was not widely shared.
The A-12 “practically spawned its own industrial base” (CIA 2012), and over the course of the program thousands of machinists, mechanics, fabricators, and other personnel were trained in how to work with titanium efficiently. As Lockheed gained production experience with titanium, it issued reports to the Air Force and to its vendors on production methods, and “set up training classes for machinists, a complete research facility for developing tools and procedures, and issued research contracts to competent outside vendors to develop improved equipment” (Johnson 1970).
The 1952 symposium is clearly a precursor to its 1959-1964 production and development, and the 1966 one is drawing from the experiences of the industrial base it created.
EDIT: and more directly:
What can we learn from the story of titanium?
For one, titanium is a government research success story. Titanium metal was essentially willed into existence by the US government, which searched for a promising production process, successfully scaled it up when it found one, and performed much of the initial research on titanium’s material properties, potential alloys, and manufacturing methods. Nearly all early demand for titanium was for government aerospace projects, and when the nascent industry struggled, the government stepped in to subsidize production. As a result, titanium achieved a level of production in 10 years that took aluminum and magnesium nearly 30.
While I still disagree with your interpretation of that post, I don’t want to argue over the meaning of a post from that blog. There are actual books written about the history of titanium. I’m probably as familiar with it as the author of Construction Physics, and saying A-12-related programs were necessary for development of titanium usage is just wrong. People who care about that and don’t trust my conclusion should go look up good sources on their own, more-extensive ones.
That is not an accurate summary of the linked article.
That’s before the A-12.
At that point, the A-12 program was still classified and the knowledge gained from it was not widely shared.
Key paragraph:
The 1952 symposium is clearly a precursor to its 1959-1964 production and development, and the 1966 one is drawing from the experiences of the industrial base it created.
EDIT: and more directly:
While I still disagree with your interpretation of that post, I don’t want to argue over the meaning of a post from that blog. There are actual books written about the history of titanium. I’m probably as familiar with it as the author of Construction Physics, and saying A-12-related programs were necessary for development of titanium usage is just wrong. People who care about that and don’t trust my conclusion should go look up good sources on their own, more-extensive ones.