This is not a huge problem though, as most steel grades are inexpensive and allow designers to combine different steels in their projects to gain compounding benefits. It should be clear that steel can fit a lot of different jobs: it can be hard, tough, strong, temperature or corrosive resistant the trouble is that it cannot be all these things at once, without sacrificing one property over the other. While there are machining steels available, there are other steels that are difficult, if not impossible, to machine due to their working properties. Steel has a high level of strength, but this strength is inversely proportional to its toughness, or a measure of resilience to deformation without fracture. Most steels are susceptible to corrosion due to its iron composition, though the stainless steels address this weakness to some degree of success. It is magnetic and can conduct both heat and electricity readily. It responds to the heat treatment strengthening process, which allows even the simplest of steels to have variable properties based on how it was heated/cooled. To speak generally, steel is a dense, hard, yet workable metal. Since there are many kinds of steel, it is hard to generalize its specific properties, but our article on the types of steel gives a good introduction to the various classes. For example, steel with a high level of chromium belongs to the stainless steels, or those which are less prone to rusting than other alloys. Many so-called alloy steels also use elements such as zinc, chromium, manganese, molybdenum, silicon, and even titanium to improve its resistance to corrosion, deformation, high temperatures, and more. It is created by enriching elemental iron with carbon, which increases its hardness, strength, and resistance. Perfected during the onset of the 20th century, steel has quickly become the most useful and varied metal on Earth.

Each metal will be briefly explored, and then a comparison of their differences will follow to show when to specify one over the other. This article, through an examination of the physical, mechanical, and working properties of steel and titanium, can help designers choose which material is right for their job. There are dozens of titanium alloys and hundreds more steel alloys, so it can oftentimes be challenging to decide where to begin when considering these two metals.

These metals come in a wide assortment of alloys - base metals imbued with other metallic elements that produce a sum greater than its parts. When designers require rugged, tough materials for their projects, steel and titanium are the first options that come to mind.

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