Shuttle fragment?

[raddoc]

I was metal detecting on the Cabin Wreck beach and found a piece of metal that may have been part of the shuttle... How can I tell whether it's titanium? I will post pictures later on today

 

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[raddoc]

Photos

 

[DDancer]

A sad thing the first Shuttle disaster. As an Aviation worker I'll tell ya what I see. If it was Aluminum after all this time it would be severely corroded. I don't see much corrosion on the item your showing. Be helpful if I knew what kind of conditions you recovered it from.... soil, beach or water. Aside from that if its titanium you can test it easy enough... take a benzene torch to it and heat it till it glows. If its aluminum it will melt and hence be a modern bit of junk. If it does not melt, titanium wont, then its a good candidate for a bit of that mission. You can also contact NASA however expect to loose the piece to them.
DD

 

[raddoc]

A sad thing the first Shuttle disaster. As an Aviation worker I'll tell ya what I see. If it was Aluminum after all this time it would be severely corroded. I don't see much corrosion on the item your showing. Be helpful if I knew what kind of conditions you recovered it from.... soil, beach or water. Aside from that if its titanium you can test it easy enough... take a benzene torch to it and heat it till it glows. If its aluminum it will melt and hence be a modern bit of junk. If it does not melt, titanium wont, then its a good candidate for a bit of that mission. You can also contact NASA however expect to loose the piece to them. DD

I found the fragment on the beach just south of Sebastian Inlet. It was in about 6 inches of sand. It doesn't look to have any corrosion on it. I would expect something if it were aluminum. It's very light. The flat portion has an area that's looks like it has been exposed to a significant amount of force that has bent it. It is a fragment of something larger obviously. I don't know if it's titanium but I think it probably is just based on its appearance.

 

[DDancer]

Well then the suggestions I made stand unless its a really recent bit of metal. Your choice what you do with it (shrugs). I still remember the event. As to more accurate identification only NASA would be able to say yay or nay. Titanium is pretty much immune to corrosion however it is affected by certain dissimilar metals. You can also try to drill it, titanium is very difficult to drill without specific materials and its difficult even then.

What ever it is it appears to be part of a flange or coupling.

 

[Msbeepbeep]

Like he said heat it up and you will know for sure!

Cool find for sure!

 

[DDancer]

Thought about it for a sec and if you don't want to damage it much you can find a local metal heat treatment facility and ask them to look over and maybe give it a mohl hardness test. That would make a pretty quick assessment on what the material is.

 

[Peyton Manning]

looks cast like pot metal

 

[Peyton Manning]

I expect anything on a shuttle would be machined

 

[huntsman53]

I expect anything on a shuttle would be machined

Frank

 

[BC1969]

Kewl find if it is a shuttle piece, I'd give anything to find some of that gold Skylab.

Mike

 

[Boatlode]

Try to drill a hole in it. If its titanium, a carbide bit won't touch it.

 

[fella]

Try to drill a hole in it. If its titanium, a carbide bit won't touch it.

What? It most certainly will. It's not a magic metal. It's not that tough to drill, mill or work with in general.

Besides it's just a cast junk anyway!

 

[Frankn]

I Have a piece that was from the nose portion that washed up on Merritt island. The lady that found it wanted one of the black tiles, but NASA took it all, but the piece I found. It appears to be a bent up piece of thick sheet metal. It is melted on the edges sooty black on one side and has some white powering. I will try to find it and post the image here. Frank...

 

[raddoc]

Cool. Would love to see a pic.

 

[CASPER-2]

you can send it to NASA - I found a piece in same area as you

 

[Frankn]

you can send it to NASA - I found a piece in same area as you

You mean donate it don't you. They place all the recovered parts of that shuttle in an old missile silo, never to be seen again. They classify them as Government property. Frank...

 

[DirtDiggerDaveinMD]

What? It most certainly will. It's not a magic metal. It's not that tough to drill, mill or work with in general.

Besides it's just a cast junk anyway!

Exactly what I was thinking. I have drilled a lot of titanium and inconel in my job, and carbide certainly will cut titanium.