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santana338
Member
I remember back in the day when my dad was still in the air force, he told me the mechanics working on titanium aircraft had to have titanium tools to prevent bad things from happening. I assume the bad things were corrosion. But titanium was used a lot on high performance sailboats and I don't recall hearing about any issues there other than cost. Is titanium corrosion still an issue?
I agree this new material has a long way to go before it winds up in any products. Just like battery technology, it is a long way from the lab to production.
INdeed, although the title is misleading, the article makes it clear that the reference is to Ti-steel alloys, which are, indeed, about as tough as anything we've yet been able to concoct. ALWAYS read beyond the headline!
Nevertheless, the article also gives a nod to the problem of corrosion of this Al-steel alloy, as Cosmacelf pointed out. Worse for me, however, is this line which, once parsed, becomes close to malarkey, as follows - quoting the researcher:
Don't think we're quite there yet, Doc.
Nevertheless, the article also gives a nod to the problem of corrosion of this Al-steel alloy, as Cosmacelf pointed out. Worse for me, however, is this line which, once parsed, becomes close to malarkey, as follows - quoting the researcher:
OK...so it's 13% lighter than a TI-alloy....and almost 13% less strong than same. So you need 13% more of it to get something that's almost as strong as a Ti alloy.
Don't think we're quite there yet, Doc.
No, it's 13% lighter than normal steel, not a Ti-steel alloy. Basically not quite as good as Ti-steel alloys, but 90% cheaper.
Bingo. Cheap and strong. So, in automotive use, you might be able to use such an alloy to provide the structural strength, reducing weight without raising the price much. Import in meeting increased efficiency standards.
Aah - fair enough. Ti-alloys also are significantly less dense than the more prosaic steels. It is, however, an enormous stretch to say something that has been created in laboratory scale costs ten percent as much as a commercially available product. You certainly cannot add up the cost of raw Fe, Ni and Al, and compare it to raw Fe and Ti, and claim a cost victory!
Regardless, I'm all for more research into steel alloys, and hope POSCO can take the good Dr Kim's work and pound it into something cost effective.
Regardless, I'm all for more research into steel alloys, and hope POSCO can take the good Dr Kim's work and pound it into something cost effective.
