Friday, March 30, 2007
Kobe Steel develops world's strongest aluminum alloy
It's not clear that this is of any immediate relevance to metal stampers. It looks like production is still some years off. But it's interesting to know about anyway. And odd that it would be developed by a steel company.
Japan Today
Kobe Steel Ltd said Thursday it has developed a new aluminum alloy, which it claims is the world's strongest, for use in vehicles and fuel tanks for space shuttles.
tensile strength 10% higher than the aluminum-lithium alloy developed by Lockheed Martin
Japan Today
Kobe Steel Ltd said Thursday it has developed a new aluminum alloy, which it claims is the world's strongest, for use in vehicles and fuel tanks for space shuttles.
tensile strength 10% higher than the aluminum-lithium alloy developed by Lockheed Martin
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There are several important factors besides tensile strength necessary for a shuttle external tank or any other application. Brittleness vs. temp, malleability, melting temperature, density, cost, and probably a half dozen other factors must be considered for each. Nevertheless, the new alloy will probably have applications somewhere.
It's a good point. Actually, for a launchable tank, compressive strength might be more important than tensile strength. At least during the time it's passing through the atmosphere. But I don't know. That's not an area I have any expertise in. However, the point remains ... it's probably optimized for other factors that make it unlikely to be useful to stampers down the road. But who knows?
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