'the world's strongest aluminum alloy', new from Kobe
'Japan's Kobe Steel says it has invented the world's strongest aluminum alloy, with a tensile strength of 780 megapascals (113,000 lb. per sq. in.), compared with the 710-megapascal strength of Lockheed Martin's Weldalite alloy. Kobe Steel also says that the material will not break until stretched 14%, compared with 5% for Weldalite, the material used in Space Shuttle external fuel tanks. "We haven't actually started marketing the material, but believe it could be used for aerospace and high-performance vehicles," says a company representative. Kobe Steel says it has made the alloy by spraying atomized molten metal and hopes to put it into commercial mass production in 2008-09. The company has produced 10-mm.-dia., 100-mm.-long sample bars, but expects to be able to make metal ingots of up to 240 kg. (529 lb.).' (From Aviation Week and Space Technology, April 16, 2007.)
Last edited by Niles H.; 04-30-07 at 08:13 PM.