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UCLA Creates Super-Strong, Super-Light Metal (ucla.edu)
An anonymous reader writes: Engineers working on planes, rockets, and other vehicles are always looking for new metals to make their creations lighter and stronger. A new invention from UCLA demonstrates "record levels of specific strength — how much weight a material can withstand before breaking — and specific modulus — the material's stiffness-to-weight ratio." The metal is mostly (86%) magnesium, but infused with an even dispersal of ceramic silicon carbide nanoparticles (abstract). A key part of their work was preventing the nanoparticles from clumping, since they attract each other if left alone. "To counteract this issue, researchers dispersed the particles into a molten magnesium zinc alloy. The newly discovered nanoparticle dispersion relies on the kinetic energy in the particles' movement. This stabilizes the particles' dispersion and prevents clumping."
I dunno. It really burns me up to see such hostility.
On the downside, magnesium can be bear to put out when it gets going.
That probably takes the understatement of the thread award...
http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2008-06/let-burning-metals-lie
You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
Uh, you would be wrong...
My wife and I had one of the grilles in this series. We got the recall notice right after thoroughly cleaning the grille for the first time. Normally the inside of the chamber is protected by a layer of oxidation, but a thorough cleaning scrapes the oxide layer off and exposes fresh magnesium. Ours didn't catch fire, but after we got the recall notice we looked into it and apparently the first heavily-documented case of the grille burning was after the owners thoroughly cleaned it and probably exposed fresh magnesium right before using it again.
Magnesium is used successfully for other applications, but usually with the fire-risk considered an acceptable tradeoff. Engine blocks, with steel liners for the cylinder walls and with aluminum cylinder heads so that the magnesium isn't directly exposed to flame, and in wheels that should be safe unless a tire failure results in a skidding bare wheel scraping against pavement are both common in racing. The very term, "mag wheel," is based on the use of magnesium wheel, even if most are now aluminum for street-legal uses.
For the right applications this alloy could be very good. Just don't make barbecue grilles out of it.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.