Author Topic: Metallic Alloy Gets Tougher at Cryogenic Temperatures  (Read 2334 times)

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velocity

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Metallic Alloy Gets Tougher at Cryogenic Temperatures
« on: September 12, 2014, 10:30:45 AM »
Racers, I read with interest the following report in the latest issue of NASA Tech Briefs and have reached out to Professor Ritchie asking if this fancy new metal alloy would also hang tough at high temps and under extreme pressures. If he responds, I post the reply. - Landspeed Louise


Metallic Alloy Gets Tougher at Cryogenic Temperatures
 
A new concept in metallic alloy design — called "high‐entropy alloys" — has yielded a multiple-element material that tests out as one of the toughest on record. Unlike most materials, the strength and ductility of the alloy actually improves at cryogenic temperatures.

“We examined CrMnFeCoNi, a high‐entropy alloy that contains five major elements rather than one dominant one,” says Robert Ritchie, a materials scientist with Berkeley Lab’s Materials Sciences Division. “Our tests showed that despite containing multiple elements with different crystal structures, this alloy crystallizes as a single phase, face‐centered cubic solid with exceptional damage tolerance, tensile strength above one gigapascal, and fracture toughness values that are off the charts, exceeding that of virtually all other metallic alloys.”

Tensile strengths and fracture toughness values were measured for CrMnFeCoNi from room temperature down to 77 Kelvin, the temperature of liquid nitrogen. The values recorded were among the highest reported for any material. That these values increased along with ductility at cryogenic temperatures is a huge departure from the vast majority of metallic alloys, which lose ductility and become more brittle at lower temperatures.

The single-phase, high-entropy alloys would be ideal for cryogenic applications, such as storage tanks for liquefied natural gas, hydrogen, and oxygen.


Read the full article here: http://newscenter.lbl.gov/2014/09/04/a-metallic-alloy-that-is-tough-and-ductile-at-cryogenic-temperatures/

Offline wobblywalrus

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Re: Metallic Alloy Gets Tougher at Cryogenic Temperatures
« Reply #1 on: September 12, 2014, 11:30:00 PM »
Thanks for posting that, Louise.

velocity

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Re: Metallic Alloy Gets Tougher at Cryogenic Temperatures
« Reply #2 on: September 12, 2014, 11:34:07 PM »
Alas speedy people, Professor Ritchie informs me his work is strictly cryogenic based, so not luck for high temps and pressure environments.

It was worth a try and the guy was nice enough to reply straight away.

Offline Randall Parker

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Re: Metallic Alloy Gets Tougher at Cryogenic Temperatures
« Reply #3 on: November 04, 2014, 06:14:27 PM »
Hi Louise,
I have been working with several High Temperature Super Alloys that have been recently developed/patented for the Aerospace and Ordnance applications.  If you have an application I can recommend an alloy.  Some are harder to get than others.  Some require a mill run to get.
but they sure are fun to work with and watch perform.
The Faster you go the longer you live...it's just physics.

velocity

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Re: Metallic Alloy Gets Tougher at Cryogenic Temperatures
« Reply #4 on: November 05, 2014, 01:18:24 AM »
Thanks for the note. My intent was to share some new tech with racers. I am cognizant of the benefits of cryogenics and thought there might be some place for it in LSR -- especially in the area of hardening parts for tough duty cycles..