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Nanotech Makes Steel 10x Stronger
An anonymous reader writes: A new metal-making process currently in testing at oil fields uses nano-scale plating to make metals like steel as much as ten times stronger than they would be without it. "[The process] uses an advanced form of electroplating, a process already used to make the chrome plating you might see on the engine and exhaust pipes of a motorcycle. Electroplating involves immersing a metal part in a chemical bath containing various metal ions, and then applying an electrical current to cause those ions to form a metal coating. The company uses a bath that contains more than one kind of metal ion and controls how ions are deposited by varying the electrical current. By changing the current at precise moments, it can create a layered structure, with each layer being several nanometers thick and of different composition. The final coating can be up to a centimeter thick and can greatly change the properties of the original material."
Lt. Barclay: Commander, this is what we're thinking of using to replace the damaged warp plasma conduit.
Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge: [examines the unit] Yeah, Reg... yeah, that's good. But you're going to need to reinforce this copper tubing with a nanopolymer.
http://vignette3.wikia.nocooki...
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We used to call this physical chemistry. I suppose that doesn't sound as sexy.
We already have steels approaching 10x stronger than mild steel, I'm not sure what they are even trying to say. The complete lack of any details, along with fantastic nebulous claims smacks of bs. Perhaps it's like another poster said, it improves tensile load bearing in corrosive enviornments which can seriously weaken parts and make them susceptible to fatigue.
Cheaty like refining iron from ore instead of just using the sharp rocks and strong branches you find laying around?
If it's 10x stronger and gets the job done, it solves the problem. Next job is for the quantity surveyor to figure out at which point having 2 or even 10 steel beams is more expensive than shelling out for this premium technology (Or to put it another way, figure out when this technology is cost effective.) If it's using less material, it's likely to be more sustainable too. Did you want them to invent a new element? lol.
Isn't the whole family of alloys we call 'steel' essentially a testament to the fact that certain nanoscale structures(that, conveniently for us, can be produced by comparatively primitive methods) in iron can radically improve its properties compared the the (actually pretty lousy) pure metal?