I do not think that weight will be the primary selling point for this technology as it certainly extraordinary. The actual fabrication issues are way more interesting here. That is going to be the real issue with all these exotic manufactured metals.
However this is a fresh example of the future potential for all metals and other materials. Few imagine the huge jump in flexibility that we are to have or perhaps they do after the fifty years of silicon development.
Even without these new methods been developed, we have barely used the honeycomb sandwich method which by the by is what you are walking on in an airliner.
It has always been far too easy to pour things in a mould and let it set.
Researchers create nano-architectured aluminum alloy with strength of steel
By Darren Quick
20:09 September 8, 2010
Using a technique that creates a new nanoscale architecture, researchers have created an aluminum alloy just as strong as steel but with reasonable plasticity to stretch and not break under stress. Importantly, the technique of creating these nanostructures can be used on many different types of metals and the team plans to work on strengthening magnesium, a metal that is even lighter than aluminum that could be used to make strong, lightweight body armor for soldiers.
Dr. Yuntian Zhu, a professor of materials science at North Carolina State University worked on the project to create the super strong aluminum alloy along with colleagues from the University of Sydney in Australia; theUniversity of California, Davis; and Ufa State Aviation Technical Universityin Russia. He says the aluminum alloys have unique structural elements that, when combined to form a hierarchical structure at several nanoscale levels, make them super-strong and ductile.
The aluminum alloys have small building blocks, called “grains,” that are thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair. Each grain is a tiny crystal less than 100 nanometers in size. Bigger is not better in materials, Zhu says, as smaller grains result in stronger materials. Zhu also says the aluminum alloys have a number of different types of crystal “defects.” Nanocrystals with defects are stronger than perfect crystals.
Aside from Zhu’s plans to collaborate with the Department of Defense on a project to make magnesium alloy to be used in body armor, the ability to create lighter – yet stronger – materials is crucial to devising everything from more fuel-efficient cars to safer airplanes.
The paper detailing the team’s findings appears in the journal Nature Communications.
When, I wonder, will this find its way into something really important - bicycles. Right now, 'steel is real' describes how strong and flexible and durable steel is compared to all other materials but we have open minds when it comes to something like this. Can we imagine alloy brakes that don't overly flex? A 2 pound frame/fork/headset/bottom bracket? Yes, and a whole lot more.
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