Revolutionary steel treatment paves the way for radically lighter, stronger, cheaper cars. Flash Bainite is stronger than titanium by weight, and ductile enough to be pressed into shape while cold without thinning or cracking. It's now being tested by three of the world's five largest car manufacturers, who are finding they can produce thinner structural car components that are between 30-50 percent lighter and cheaper than the steel they've been using, while maintaining the same performance is crash tests.
Weight savings to be fucked over by heated seats and airbags. Whatever.
Generally, when you choose steel you're trading off between strength and ductility. The hardest steels are the martensitic types, but their crystalline structure makes them brittle and prone to cracking when you press or bend them, so they need to be hot pressed. Flash Bainite breaks this rule by delivering a specific strength some 7 percent higher than martensitic steel but staying remarkably bendable to the point where it can be cold pressed into shapes. The quick heating and cooling stages produce a unique mix of fine martensite, bainite and carbides.
In July 2011, US Army tests called it "an extremely energy efficient and environmentally friendly process" and concluded that "the costs to produce Flash Bainite should be extremely reasonable and could enable widespread use for applications requiring very high strength and adequate elongation, ductility, and toughness. Current opportunities for flash bainite include armor and vehicle applications requiring ultra-high strength steels for high specific strength, weight reduction, and high cycle fatigue enhancement."
>>14021006
>baneite
I just wanna know how rust prone it is.
>>14021006
This sounds like vaporware
>>14021006
is this going to be just like when basalt fibre got hype?
>>14021059
I like basalt fibre... medium tek.
>not Rearden Metal
it's like you guys don't even read Rand
>>14021075
its cool and everything, but will it ever reach the status of carbon fibre? are manufactures going to re-tool entire factorys just to take advantage? will anyone even want to change?
no. the same with this steel. theres nothing wrong with a good bit of mild, easy to produce and easy to fix when it breaks. no one seems to think of usability and practicality
>>14021075
>medium tek=best tek...what I meant
>>14021194
But but , how about a start up... crash panels and such?
Advances in material science are always super interesting.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v518/n7537/full/nature14144.html
New alloys, new processes for controlling grain structure and distribution to maximize dimensional strength. Exciting stuff. Unfortunately auto manufacturers probably won't see any of this reach mainstream for many years to come.
Although a manufacturer like Volvo who employs tons of their own custom alloys is likely already a few steps ahead of the market.
Although this is worth keeping in mind:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExQUGk12S8U
A heavy vehicle hitting a lighter vehicle is going to fair better. A super strong light weight vehicle may not be the safest thing on the road now matter how it scores in crash tests. If your 5 star 2000lb super sedan crashes into some 4000lb shitty SUV and throws your vehicle straight back 10 feet your heart can essentially get severed just from the g forces.
It would be great to have lighter, more fuel efficient, and strong vehicles on the road, but everything has a drawback.
>>14021280
OP - THNX - TIL
>>14021006
>paves the way for radically lighter
they will only use this to make the car weigh more
>>14021306
>Engineers: Great news! We just shaved 400lbs off the vehicle.
>Management: Excellent. Design will be adding 600lbs of plastic to the interior.
>Engineers: W-what?
>Management: Get back to work.
