I would like a source.
Our next round of tests may indicate a stronger strength to weight ratio than Titanium, which sells for about $25.00 a pound, this new material will cost only around $6.00 a pound.
Possibly useful in bicycling frames. I wonder how stiff it is compared to aluminum, steel, and titanium?
We are currently running tests using Magnesium AE44 with our mixture.
Hmmmm...magnesium bodied, hydrogen powered cars. This could have some pyrotechnic potential.
Perfect for handgun frames.
Can it be tinted blue-green? It could be called "Rearden Metal"...
Google is your FRiend:
http://www.azom.com/details.asp?ArticleID=356
Magnesium Alloys - Zirconium Free Casting Alloys
Background
Magnesium casting alloys can conveniently be divided into two basic groups zirconium-free and magnesium-zirconium alloys. The first commercially available group of zirconium-free alloys were Mg-Al-Zn based, the most widely used alloy being AZ91 (Mg 9%Al 1 %Zn 0.2%Mn). Other alloy systems include Mg-Al-Si, Mg-Al-rare earth and Mg-Zn-Cu alloys. Mg-Al-Zn alloys are cheap but are also difficult to cast successfully. Sand castings are prone to outcropping, microporosity, and achieving pressure tight castings can be a problem unless extensive sealing treatments are carried out. AZ91 is used primarily in high pressure die cast form particularly by the automotive industry, as car makers worldwide aim to reduce vehicle weights in order to improve fuel economy.
Sand cast Mg-Al-Zn alloys have reasonable properties in the T6 condition up to 120°C, although strength then decreases rapidly with increasing temperature and mechanical properties can vary substantially depending on section thickness. Despite these drawbacks, AZ91 castings are used in some aerospace applications, including complex aerospace sand castings such as the Westland Sea King helicopter gearbox.
Introduction of high purity variants of these alloys with lower levels of heavy metal impurities (iron, copper, and nickel) has significantly improved corrosion performance. The sand casting alloy AZ91C has now been largely replaced by its high purity variant AZ91E which has a corrosion rate around 100 times better in salt fog tests.
ZC63 alloy (Mg 6.0%Zn 3.0%Cu 0.5% Mn) was developed as an easy to process, commercial grade alloy. The North American automotive industry has shown particular interest, and ZC63 engine castings, including cylinder blocks and sumps, are being tested as a possible replacement for other materials.
Key Properties
· Light weight
· Low density (two thirds that of aluminium)
· Good high temperature mechanical properties
· Good to excellent corrosion resistance
Applications
Aerospace applications such as castings for gearboxes, transmissions, intermediate compressors, auxiliary gearboxes, generators, canopies and engine components.
Due to their light weight and mechanical properties they are used in motor racing applications to reduce vehicle weights.
Other applications include electronics, sporting goods, nuclear applications, office equipment, flares, sacrificial anodes, flash photography and tools.
Primary author: L. Duffy
Source: Materials World, vol. 4, pp. 127-30, 1996
For more information on Materials World please visit The Institute of Materials http://www.iom3.org/
Mithril is the new black.
Can we get any samples?
Some pieces of rod or sheet stock to be used for machining evaluation for instance?
If it's 20% stronger than 6061, it's still weaker than 7075. Everybody has been conditioned by years of infomercials touting products made of "6061 aircraft quality aluminum". A quick look in Machinery's Handbook will tell you that 6061 is inferior to other aluminum grades in just about every respect: hardness, tensile strength, shear strength, etc. So 6061 isn't much of a standard to gage other alloys against.
Shiver me timbers.
Bicycles!
...oh, and is the company publically traded yet?
Cheers!
When you can say, I would love to hear who the bike manufacturer is.
We live off of 6061 when building space hardware. A lighter, stronger material would be great as long as it's not too much more expensive.
You wouldn't happen to have tried polishing it to optical quality, would you? Matching materials means the whole system is athermal.
Thanks for telling me about this! I actually skimmed the headline before but didn't realize it was you, LOL. The potential aircraft application is the first thing I thought of--will ponder others and let you know if I come up with anything interesting.
I’m working on a project and would like to know some more about the alloys you’ve posted about. Would you mind posting/sending me a link to the company website, data sheets on the materials or anything along those lines? Thank you very much—I hope your product has done well since you published this!