Posted on 07/05/2002 6:20:45 PM PDT by ChadGore
Edited on 04/13/2004 2:07:56 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
NEW YORK (AP) It could be the new superhero of metals.
More than twice as strong as titanium and steel, it doesn't rust and it can be cast like plastic and honed to an edge as sharp as glass.
And like any superhero, it has a weakness: don't heat it too much, or it loses its strength.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Can you smelt it in your garage for example?A lot of people don't realize that molten aluminum casting alloy contains almost as much heat energy as molten steel, due to the silicon content.I would not do that, no. Nor under the spreading chestnut tree. The 5 gallon furnace [the small one] is capable of raw heat enough to ignite a green tree 20 feet away, and that's if everything is under control.
Secondary aluminum processing often also requires the removal of magnesium, which is present in extrusion/forging alloys but not in many casting alloys. This is done by adding either chlorine gas or aluminum fluoride salts. It's not something you want to be very close to, especially without proper protective equipment.
-Eric
The link claims 250 ksi yield strength and 2% elastic limit. If that's on the level the stuff is way strong and tough as h#ll. It'd be a nightmare trying to machine it.I've been involved with some development work on zinc casting alloys. If this stuff is as heavily alloyed as I suspect it is, I'd be concerned about.
-Long term mechanical properties.
-Dimensional stability over time.
-Recrystalization over time as a function of temperature.
-Low temperature impact strength.
-Creep (constant rate deformation under constant load at temperature). This may seem like less of a concern than it is, until you try to bolt it to something.
-Eric
Where's the Martensite in your diagram?If I remember right, martensite forms as a result of rapid cooling, and doesn't appear on the "steady state" iron-carbon phase diagram.I know it has to be there, because I had to drill some out of a broken-off stud in an exhaust manifold with a carbide cutter today...
-Eric
Yes, the equilibrium phase diagram shows those phases which are thermodynamicly stable. As steel is cooled slowly and equilibrium is maintained, austinite transforms to pearlite as carbon precipitates out of the solid solution and forms a "rod" or "parallel-plate" like structure. However, if steel is quenched rapidly, carbon atoms become trapped within the lattice and austinite is transformed to martensite rather than pearlite. Martinsite has a more "needlelike" microstructure when etched and magnified.
FR is about the best brain trust I've seen. If you guys put your heads to a challenge, there is nothing that can stop you.
I know nothing of metals or technology, only marketing and brainstorming. Just food for thought. This is still America, land of opportunity, maybe one of you will find the perfect application for this and get rich. Hope it happens.
Guess we know who Scotty leaked the transparent aluminum to now.
That is why we have (insert fanfare here) ENGINEERS!
If you have a widget you don't know what to do with, make sure that you show it to as many engineers as you can (and engineers from as many different fields as you can). Even a description is good, but a finished working widget that they can touch and feel is the best. Chances are one of them will know a killer application for it. If not, it will stay rolling around in his mind until he FINDS an application for it.
You'd be surprised how a genius' brain locks up when asked how his new thing will make money.People often don't realize there's fundamental differences between scientists and engineers. Scientist play around with the possible, and sometimes don't even seem to recognize the concept of probability. Engineers are all about probabilities: minimizing the chances of undesirable possibilities while maximizing the chances of desirable ones.That is why we have (insert fanfare here) ENGINEERS!
If you have a widget you don't know what to do with, make sure that you show it to as many engineers as you can (and engineers from as many different fields as you can). Even a description is good, but a finished working widget that they can touch and feel is the best. Chances are one of them will know a killer application for it. If not, it will stay rolling around in his mind until he FINDS an application for it.
Scientists often seem to live in ivory towers as a result. In college, a couple of my science professors were against nuclear power because of what could happen. Not a single one of my engineering professors opposed it, because they knew the probabilities of anything happening when proper safety methods were in place were infinitesimal.
These days we see the same thing with global warming/ozone holes. Scientists are more likely to believe in them than engineers.
-Eric
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