Bike Forums - '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.)