Rearden metal

Interesting Popular Mechanics article about a new, lighter, stronger steel.

3 comments:

Ymar Sakar said...

Right now they are looking at alloys and metals as future potential super conductors at room temperature. But I think metallurgy might wish to look at H20 because there's a lot of potential there for new breakthroughs.

MikeD said...

Strangely, I get the feeling that forging this alloy in space may be just the solution to their problem. Creating the alloy in a vacuum would eliminate the need to use the silicate layer, and I suspect zero G would assist in the equal distribution of the B2 crystal formation. Now, I'm also absolutely sure such a forging process also creates whole new classes of challenges along the way (not the least of which is transporting all the raw materials up to orbit in the first place). But I see this as a long term goal, not a quick fix.

douglas said...

Ooooh, that's a great idea, Mike.
For some reason, the first thing I wanted to see made from this is a bicycle. It sounds like it would make the perfect frame material.