Metallic Foams, Metallic Glasses

Wondering if anyone has ever looked into this idea? Plastic foams are fairly common as boat building materials, but I am interested in learning about different metallic foams for use as a framing material. I'm going to research bone formation and see if I can think of a novel way to apply this to structural design. Ideally, I am picturing a way of making an entire skeleton of an internal frame as one solid piece of conventional foam, and then impregnating it with metal until it is a solid form, perhaps with electroplating. A well designed foam will be much lighter and stronger than a solid.

Also of interest is the concept of a metallic glass, which is formed by a specific method of cooling applied to a liquid metal that allows it to cool without first forming crystals, meaning that it remains a pseudo-liquid substance. This allows for double or triple the strength of conventional metals.

I've read some of the threads here that advocate traditional designs only and say that it is essentially impossible to improve on what has already been done. This is total and utter nonsense. If everyone limited themselves like that, nothing would ever get done. Seems to me that a lot of people are just trying to protect their income and egos against new ideas. Revolutionary concepts are not a threat, but rather an opportunity, if they prove to be successful.

Be afraid conventionalists!
New and brilliant minds are tackling the problems that you deem unsolvable and making them work better than anything previously thought possible!

 

Building a better toilet

Dear V-Bird
Your funny, You remind me of my teenage son.
He thinks it is about old vs new

I like modern stuff. I hate toilets because they are troubleful, ineffiecient and just plain primitive in their function. But does adding a LCD Screen and megabytes of memory make it better. I just want it to flush.

I a lot of the old farts like me are twice your age, which mean we have actually had boats, design boats, sunk boats, ran then around, crashed them into docks, even used them to catch fish and travel long distances. I have had boats for 35 years, had boats made from Cardboard 6ft long to Aluminum 70footer. I have had slow boats, and very fast ones

So a lot of us old farts are trying to prevent the new farts from wasting time and money designing things that are impossible.

Now let me tell you what your missing,
There are many of us old farts working on New Surface drives, Kitsails, Wingsails new compostite construction methods, better anchors, computer control systems and even helping a few new farts learn boat design.

If you want to dream.. dream. If you want to learn to build boats listen... It is not hard, it is not easy. It is a science and art and it is a challenge.

 

old fart

When you take the time to study the properties of amorphous metals you will find the only thing wrong with them compared to other metals is the price.

 

Price

Price is the limiting factor. . . I'm trying to think of a way around that. . . perhaps there is a material that a heatproof foam can be made from?

I'm thinking of puffed stone perhaps, like vermiculite. . . something that could soak up liquid metal and then be brought out to drip dry

it seems like a fairly simple process to make something that porous and heat resistant, in any desired shape, and this is all that is required to cast a metalllic foam frame

I should note, aluminum is fairly cheap, and is one of the best metals for foaming

I was also wondering about the idea of using titanium oxide in electrolysis to coat a structural surface
it's a fairly common material, one of the most common elements in the earth's crust actually, along with aluminum

 

Maybe they could be dipped into the molten metal, then subjected to a near vaccuum to squeeze them out, then high pressure to reexpand the foam to the proper size. . . the metal would have to be kept as a liquid by means of some form of radiation

 

Instead of playing metallurgist, how about combing aluminum with epoxy and carbon fiber like Boeing 787. I believe that like concrete and rebar - One would would get the benefits of both materials. The only problem with aluminum is electrolysis either caused by stray current or dissimilar metal. You need to use 5086 aluminum - you cant use cheaper 2000,3000, 4000 or 6000 series on boat.
Check on metal prices, aluminum is "cheap" - but I just ordered a plate 7' x 20' it was $640 from wholesaler. Stainless is crazy a exhaust pipe 8 inches is $200 a foot, and I need 8 feet. I looked at making it out of titanium just the pipe was 10 times price of stainless plus I could not fine welder anyway.

That is why you see a lot of builders going to composites. But I like aluminum it doesn't break as easy, it bends.

 

$640 for a plate that size doesn't seem too expensive

being able to dip a heatproof foam core into liquid metal to form a metallic foam skeleton would be more than playing metalurgist, it would be revolutionary

 

I'm also wondering if lasers could be used to keep a metal at a consistant temperature during cooling so that a metallic glass could be formed. . . metallic glasses are fascinating

 

I have a 70 x 15 foot boat. I add a new top deck, approximately 20 by 15 wide.
Thats $1200 for floor. $2000 for vertical supports, $2000 for horizontal beams, $300 for nuts and bolts, $200 zinc chromate paint and acid, $500 for welding.

Steel is half price.

The point is Aluminum seems cheap but by the time you build a whole boat you can spend a couple 100k in just Aluminum

Other comparison, I am looking to build 14 foot Aluminum Flat Bottom Boat like jon boat. It is about $1500 in Aluminum it is replacing one I built last year out of plywood and fiberglass that cost me $600. The problem was fiberglass and wood, got too heavy for what I wanted.

 

I dont know if foams that can take 1200 degrees f and not melt or catch on fire.
I use foam to make parts, I cover it in paper then fiberglass then pour gasoline or acetone into part. Foam disappears I have part.

For pouring metal into form, I believe a ceramic or silica mold would be the way to go.

As far as heat treating/Curing- the easy way is just in a oven. The size would be determined by part.

A laser would not work because eventhough a laser can be very hot it doesnt have the heat for a large part. For example, I used a 1 million btu propane torch to warm engine head to 300 degree C to then use weld to weld area in head. I try to weld with cold part, my weld doesnt have heat for all the metal I am trying to weld. It has to do with mass and aluminum disipates heat better. Stainless takes a long time to get hot. I dont know if this makes sense to you.

 

Have you ever played with melting metals? It is easy to do. Buy you have develop a lot heat in a safe manner. I have done a few fun ones. Actually make some real parts. I am wondering how old you are? If your a college student or a high school student? I dont want to be telling a kid to go play with melting metals.

 

Aluminium epoxy / amorphous metals

Aluminum and epoxy do no mix well in a marine environment http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2629 adding carbon to the mixture will only make things worse, various threads about this subject.

Metallic glasses are fascinating indeed but they can so far only be formed by cooling liquid metal very quickly, cooling lasers do exist but combining them with pouring and metallic foams is a big step.

The other limiting factor with amorphous metals is thickness, they have to be cooled rapidly to keep their amorphous state so they can only be manufactured in very thin and narrow ribbons.

Amorphous metals are interesting for the yachtbuilding industry if the are corrosion resistant and a suitable adhesive exist.

Amorphous metals are already available to the consumer market today, the most widely used application is in cellphone hinges.

 

GO Find a Aluminum Yacht, and find out how they fair it. They also bottomcoat with many coats of epoxy and then bottom paint. There are epoxy specifically design for marine environment.

I am not saying to glue aluminum sheet together with epoxy.

A sandwich of Aluminum glue via epoxy to Carbon-fiber panel bonded to another layer of Aluminum. Then coated with epoxy on all sided. The epoxy prevent corrosion to Aluminum. Aluminum does not touch Carbon Fiber.

 

boat/airplane building

Remember the story about the man who build canoes out of surplus airplane aluminum and rivets.

I'd never buy a metal boat with additional fairing on it.

 

You wont be buying any Megayacht.

You wont be buying any aluminum Mega yacht. There are many aluminum yachts with epoxy fairing and they dont have problem with it if it done properly.