"Stainless Magnesium". New light, strong, ductile, corrosion proof alloy

[Garfly]

http://www.nature.com/nmat/journal/v14/n12/full/nmat4435.html

 

http://www.fullyloaded.com.au/industry-news/1511/australian-discovery-promises-ultralightweight-truck-materials/

 

 

[eightyknots]

It sounds interesting as far as weight is concerned, about half the weight of aluminium.

 

I would like to know something about this new alloy: does it burn quickly?

 

 

[Garfly]

I don't think anybody knows much about it yet, it's only just been invented.

 

But in an interview I heard on the radio, I think they were claiming it could be in production within a year or two.

 

Let's see, but I guess it could be a game changer in our corner of aviation.

 

 

[bexrbetter]

I predict that polypropylene advances will win out over this.

 

Polypropylene is 1/3 the weight of aluminium with the same modulas. They are still finding many ways to structure it but starting to use it in buildings and other construction ..

 

http://www.inrekor.com/

 

 

[Garfly]

Yeah, looks like interesting times ahead for engineers and designers in many metallurgical fields.

 

The local scientists seem particularly excited about its serendipitously discovered "uniform lithium carbonate film" which affords the new material unexpected corrosion resistance - comparable, they say, to stainless steel.

 

From the ATN article:

 

Professor Michael Ferry, from UNSW’s School of Materials Science and Engineering, says ...

 

"This is the first magnesium-lithium alloy to stop corrosion from irreversibly eating into the alloy, as the balance of elements interacts with ambient air to form a surface layer which, even if scraped off repeatedly, rapidly reforms to create reliable and durable protection."