Stronger Steel...in 10 seconds

"New Flash!" -- Inventor Discovers New Heat Treatment That Makes Steel 7% Stronger Than Any Steel on Record -- In Less Than 10 Seconds


New Method Called Flash Processing Could Enable Carmakers to Build Frames That are Up to 30% Thinner and Lighter Without Compromising Safety

A Detroit entrepreneur has discovered a new steel, trademarked as Flash Bainite, that has tested stronger and more shock absorbing than the most common titanium alloys used by industry.

Now the entrepreneur is working with researchers at Ohio State University to better understand the science behind the new treatment, called flash processing. What they’ve discovered may hold the key to making cars and military vehicles lighter, stronger, and more fuel efficient.

Rapidly heating and cooling steel sheets changes the microstructure inside the alloy to make it stronger and less brittle.

The basic process of heat-treating steel has changed little in the modern age, and engineer Suresh Babu is one of few researchers worldwide who still study how to tune the properties of steel in detail. He’s an associate professor of materials science and engineering at Ohio State, and director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Center for Integrative Materials Joining for Energy Applications, headquartered at the university.

“Steel is what we would call a ‘mature technology.’ We’d like to think we know most everything about it,” he says. “If someone invented a way to strengthen the strongest steels even a few percent, that would be a big deal. But 7%? That’s huge.”

...more HERE:
http://www.toolingandproduction.com/enews/2011_September1/feature1.php

 

Wootz!

(metalurgist joke...)

 

I think the steel on vehicles is already too thin. They've had to formulate fake crash test that provides false safety factors in cars.

Is steel an alloy?

 

al·loy/ˈaloi/
Verb: Mix (metals) to make an alloy.
Noun: A metal made by combining two or more metallic elements, esp. to give greater strength or resistance to corrosion.

steel (stl)
n.
1. A generally hard, strong, durable, malleable alloy of iron and carbon, usually containing between 0.2 and 1.5 percent carbon, often with other constituents such as manganese, chromium, nickel, molybdenum, copper, tungsten, cobalt, or silicon, depending on the desired alloy properties, and widely used as a structural material.

Short answer? Yes. Steel is an alloy.

And that's a pretty serious charge you're making against the people involved in crash tests -- from top to bottom, private sector and public sector. I don't buy it.

I have to listen to enough conspiracy theories already, without buying into one that says the government and independent test labs are deliberately faking test results and conspiring to let me die in my car, so auto manufacturers can make an extra buck.

 

mmm
Increasing tensile strength by 7% isn't in itself all that useful. Most structures fail from buckling and then the stiffness is paramount. That also dictates the useful unsupported span of sheet material used in monocoque structures.

Very high strength alloy steels like Aermet have been around for a long time. And they are used in military vehicles already. But only those that need lower weight. And they are far stronger than Titanium.

Rapid cooling has also been used with water quenched steels such as AISI 4130 Steel

 

Indeed. All structures require stiffness. Thus the structure that is being considered is the EI, the structural stiffness, which is the product of Youngs Modulus and second moment of intertia of the structure.

So a 7% increase will affect little.

Just another marketing ploy to give the impression this is a new "WOW" material, thus they get the attention that others had with "normal" steel products.

 

This will have a potential big impact for some industries such as the auto industry. The process should easily reduce the required amount of steel for many of those stamped metal elements that provide the structural strength of "normal" cars. This both reduces manufacturing cost and it improves performance (primarily acceleration and gas mileage). This is while continuing to use low alloy steels that provide the best "bang for the buck" for normal cars.

Using better materials has been available for a long time. However just about everything that is better than low alloy steel currently adds a lot to the cost of the vehicle.

For marine applications, carbon steel is not very common in pleasure craft but is the basic building material for the Military and the Shipping industry. Better properties for a low alloy steel would be a big deal here. However, the new steel could run into trouble if it has poor properties in the heat affected regions adjacent to welds, if corrosion properties are not good or if it becomes brittle at low temperatures.

 

It contradicts itself. It says that it is 7% stronger than any other steel then says the flash process improves steel by 7%,--not the same is it.

April the 1st crap.