Framebuilders - Steel Velcro

This could be interesting.
Attaching tubs to Long Johns, new kinds of couplers, breakaway chainstays for belt drives, etc.



http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01476/velcro_1476911c.jpg

The new invention, called Metaklett, uses the same hook-and-loop fastening system as Velcro but can support loads of up to 35 tonnes per square metre at temperatures as high as 1,472F (800C).
Like the popular fabric fastener, Metaklett is designed to be peeled apart and reused, making it a potentially useful and cost-effective engineering component.

Strips of the super-strength adhesive are just 0.2mm thick, with the delicate steel hooks capable of attaching themselves to the loops at almost any angle.
The fastener has been developed by a team at the Institute of Metal Forming and Casting at Technical University Munich.

“The unbeatable advantage of a hook and loop fastener is that it is easy to close and open again," said Josef Mair, a scientist at the institute.
In addition to bearing heavier loads, the invention has advantages over synthetic fasteners in that it can withstand both high temperatures and corrosive chemicals.

“Things can get very hot, for example, in the automotive sector. A car parked in direct sunlight can reach temperatures of 80 °C, and temperatures of several hundred degrees centigrade can arise around the exhaust manifold," said Mair.

"Aggressive disinfectants are used for cleaning purposes in hospitals, and traditional hook, and loop fasteners are too weak for use in the construction of building façades."
Metaklett has been developed for use in car construction and air-conditioning systems, but its creators claim that it could be turned to any number of applications.

Velcro was invented in 1941 by the Swiss electrical engineer George de Mestral, and has since become a popular alternative to buttons, zips and shoelaces.

[url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/6154909/Steel-version-of-Velcro-strong-enough-to-support-buildings.html[/url]

This is neat; they also say it can be reused and needs no specialize tools to fasten and unfasten. I wonder if sales will initially be limited to industrial customers. It would be a handyman or handywoman's dream. I could think of applications I could use it for, including mounting my old bike carrier to studs on a wall in my shop to create my own bike repair stand.

My understanding is it looses about 1/5 of it's grip after the first couple of uses but then always retains 4/5s of its grip from then on out.

Yeah, I could come up with all sorts of uses for super velcro.

The temperature limit implies a chromium-nickel stainless steel, and as a result we can make a couple of assumptions. Although I find it hard to believe that Germans would think in tonnes per square metre, that's a digression for another time, although at 1070 K, there's no way on earth it'd still be holding at 35T and even the most corrosion resistant steels suffer some horrendous oxidation at those temperatures. I used to work in ductile iron pipe manufacture and that was about the heat-treatment temperature of the annealing furnaces. Even 25Cr20Ni steel rails used to last about eight weeks before they were too oxidised and cracked to remain safe and they had a much lower surface area:volume ratio than this stuff.

I'm given to understand it also has a shear strength of 7 tonnes per square metre, which makes me question just how easy it would be to peel this stuff apart.

Nonetheless, it's about damned time someone put this idea into practise. The number of applications for 'Stahlcro' would be awesome even considering those specific limitations :-)