The Titanium Wheelchair Revolution

Aluminum, once the industry standard, got a big challenge when titanium wheelchairs entered the market in the mid ’90s — and justifiably so. Titanium chairs soon became synonymous with “ultralight” and pushed the envelope of what is possible. But chairs made out of the aerospace metal also came with higher price tags. In time titanium chairs pushed manufacturers and engineers to advance aluminum chairs to the point where their weight is now on par with titanium. With weight no longer an issue, what are the advantages of titanium, and do they justify a higher price tag?

To answer the question, let’s first revisit the basics. Pure titanium is brittle; its superior qualities are achieved when combined with other metals to form titanium alloys. Grade 9 seamless aircraft-grade titanium has proven to be the best for wheelchair applications. Titanium is heavier than aluminum, but twice as strong. Because of titanium’s high strength, you can make a chair with thinner-walled tubing, using less material. Thus, lightness and strength are combined.

Alan Ludovici, vice president of engineering for TiLite, the pioneering titanium wheelchair manufacturer, explains that working with titanium requires precision and unique design and manufacturing skills. He says titanium has very good “memory” and is difficult to bend, so the bends have to be exact. Once titanium is bent into a shape for a chair, the memory keeps it in that shape. The fit of titanium parts needs to be precise in order to achieve a good weld. “At TiLite we have a process called ‘zero gap tolerance,'” he says, “meaning that all the parts of a frame have to fit together so perfectly that they are water tight — before they are sent to our welders.”