Posted on 10/02/2019 1:27:49 PM PDT by amorphous
Researchers have been in a race to find ways to improve lithium-ion batteries. They are also looking to develop alternatives to the lithium-ion battery that would be lower cost and more sustainable to manufacture. And they may just have found one.
Aluminum-based batteries would be cheaper to make, because aluminum is the third most abundant element in the Earth’s crust after oxygen and silicon. Aluminum is also light-weight and could be ideal for use in batteries.
(Excerpt) Read more at oilprice.com ...
If you don't know about weldingtips&tricks channel on youtube, check it out for tig/mig aluminum welding tips, as well as other helpful welding advice.
Dissimilar metals oxidize when joined together. Aluminum and copper have different thermal expansion and contraction properties which make cracks possible.
They pretty much eliminated aluminum wiring in us codes for houses.
In 1974, I bought an 11 y/o “fixer-upper” house whose owner had never done any maintenance to the yard or house.
The house, built in the early ‘60s, was completely wired with aluminum wire (cheaper than copper) and many ceiling lights and wall sockets were “dead”. Aluminum wiring shrinks when electric current is applied.
I spent a couple of weeks of nights after work and weekends re-wiring all outlets with pig-tailed copper wire.
Curious to see how aluminum reacts in a battery.
See my comment #83, posted before I read the thread.
I have a spare for my LG
“They pretty much eliminated aluminum wiring in us codes for houses.”
Yes. But that leaves a large inventory of older homes that have not been renovated that still have aluminum wiring in them.
yep
We don’t need rechargeable gasoline, we need a rechargeable gasoline tank.
Oh.
Wait.
We’ve had those for more than a century ...
Jody is a true rock-star. I watch him and drool over the welding machines and bottles of gas. I’m guessing $1200 would get you going with tig welding aluminum. Migs cheaper.
I’ve been trying to teach myself to weld al with oxy-acetylene—with some success (the pieces stayed stuck).
The problem is the flux flashes so that you can’t see the pool. They make special glasses for that flux—about $150.
Another $50 and you could get a bottle of argon and borrow you’re neighbor’s mig.
Anyway, what I was going to say: the alumiweld rods are self fluxing—you just heat the part and scratch oxide with the rod.
It’s not for weight bearing but refrig guys can seal holes in radiators with it.
Harris makes fluxes and rods for brazing—melting point of is around 800 degrees and up. I don’t know if you could get that hot with a map torch and it’s easy to blow through. But those rods have aluminum as the base.
You may look into those.
Cheers.
Migs cheaper.
And easier. ;) It's my go to when welding aluminum. I have a Hobart 235 with a spool gun and a bottle of argon at the ready. I also have a Lincoln 185, or so, stick/tig square-wave, but there's so much prep you have to do to get a good tig weld on aluminum, and I don't have the patience or talent for tig welding al - it seems.
I can tig steel though, and weld steel with an oxy-acetylene torch as well. Aluminum seems to have a mind of its own. :) But for really important welds, and especially for small Al pieces you need to use the TIG process, IMO. Those jobs I usually take to someone with the talent for it.
And again, the problem with brazing aluminum, at least in my experience, and like you mentioned, is the iffy nature of the final join. And like TIG, you need to take the time to prep the pieces. I'll give the flux a go to see if it helps. :-)
Thanks for the reference.
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