Titanium is the most exotic metal that can be said to be used at an industrial scale. The many advantages it has over other structural metals has been covered elsewhere on this website but the main limiting factor on wider adoption really just comes down to cost. A small sample like in this ampule might seem downright cheap but a substantial amount of this resource adds up quickly so that it tends to be used sparingly on big projects. For comparison, a ton of steel may cost as little as $500. The same amount of titanium? Over $10,000. And the cost considerations don’t stop there. While any welder can work with steel, titanium is a much finickier beast requiring special techniques and equipment to cut and weld which doesn’t help the bottom line.

The biggest objects ever made out of titanium were experimental Russian subs from the 1970’s. Being substantially lighter, yet stronger, than the steel normally used allowed them to be maneuvered like supercars below the waves. In addition, the added strength gave these subs a phenomenal crush depth past 1,000 meters. Western subs of the era would have imploded at half that depth. The Alfa class was a feared weapon during the Cold War but they were not without their problems. First and foremost was the high cost of building a 1,500 ton hull out of this metal. Not for nothing did their navy refer to them as zolotaya rybka - goldfish. In the end, only seven were built before the program was canceled due to excessive operational costs and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 90’s.