[sethimus]

hey ridemonkey engineers, aparently some guy invented a cheap way to produce a very strong yet light new steel, can this be used to make lighter steel frames in the future?

http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/06/flash-bainite-is-strongest-most-ductile.html

 

[syadasti]

A few other articles:

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-06-lighter-stronger-steel-.html

http://www.fastcompany.com/1758847/the-super-strong-future-material-thatll-make-your-car-lighter-steel

 

[tacubaya]

tensile ranges from 1100 to 2080MPa

nice.

 

[syadasti]

This plastic is a good one:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/5158972/Starlite-the-nuclear-blast-defying-plastic-that-could-change-the-world.html

Mr. Ward died this year...

 

[heavy metal]

Steel is back?

 

[ianjenn]

Steel is back?

Even better with you name!

 

[johnbryanpeters]

hey ridemonkey engineers, aparently some guy invented a cheap way to produce a very strong yet light new steel, can this be used to make lighter steel frames in the future?

http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/06/flash-bainite-is-strongest-most-ductile.html

The type of steel was discovered in 1928 by Edgar Collins Bain. Whether the new process to produce it turns out to be viable is to be determined.

 

[heavy metal]

Can't locate any news on the process development. Would like to know more.

 

[no skid marks]

Sounds great, curious what happens when it's welded.

 

[jet]

Sounds great, curious what happens when it's welded.

Me too. I'm a welder and this sounds really interesting. I'd love to start making some stainless frames, I'm a stainless TIG welder, and this sounds like it could be the new purple ano.

This stuff really sounds promising. If you could triple-butt this stuff for a DH frame, I could see sub 6lb frames with shock. And imagine the ride.

 

[buildyourown]

What a bunch of marketing BS.
Reading between the lines, it doesn't do anything that high-end steel doesn't already do. It might be cheaper, but the steel in a bike only costs about $10. It costs another $200 to roll it into tubes.

 

[Lelandjt]

This stuff really sounds promising. If you could triple-butt this stuff for a DH frame, I could see sub 6lb frames with shock. And imagine the ride.

It's denser than Ti so it would have to be stronger and stiffer to make a lighter frame. I don't see it resulting in lighter frames than current alloy offerings or what carbon is promising. Cheaper maybe.

 

[heavy metal]

Flash 4130 at 1900MPa and 9% elongation exceeds titanium-6Al-4V's strength to weight ratio making it pound per pound stronger at only 56% the volume. Flash4130 is just 10% the cost of Ti-64.

"Off the shelf" plate and tubing can be made into Flash Bainite. Triple the strength of Chrome Moly, Flash 4130 is pound for pound 2X stronger than the best aluminums. If you are "lightweighting" structure with aluminum, Flash Bainite will do a better job at less weight and lower cost.

Seems as though the addition of Bainite in the micro-structure provides added ductility to help maintain the steel's strength when being thin formed. It would seem perfect for bike frames which benefit heavily in using a material that can remain strong after being rolled into thin tubes and bent/worked.

Here's a page I found on weldability http://www.bainitesteel.com/weldability.asp

 

[sethimus]

so we can expect some light frames and some light springs?

 

[buildyourown]

. It would seem perfect for bike frames which benefit heavily in using a material that can remain strong after being rolled into thin tubes and bent/worked.

Actually, steel's limitations in regards to bike tubing aren't from lack of strength or ductility. It's dent resistance and deformation. You could easily make a sub 2# road frame out of steel. But in order for the tubes to be stiff enough, they would need to be larger, which makes the walls thinner, which means you would dent it leaning against a light pole. Assuming it never got dented, it would be strong enough though.

 

[4gnegative]

Sounds great, curious what happens when it's welded.

http://www.bainitesteel.com/weldability.asp

"Weldability means many things to many people.

To us, "readily weldable" means that two pieces of steel, when welded by someone of average skillset, can be joined to create a proper weld with no signs of embrittlement or cracking. It means that the Heat Affected Zone is comparable to that of other high strength steels like armor. It also means that no preheating, post tempering, or special welding rod is required.

Flash Bainite 4140, 4130, 8620, 1020, 1010, and a dozen other alloys are readily weldable. There is a HAZ and the weld is only as strong as the welding rod one uses. The skill of the welder and the rod used has far more impact on the resulting joint than the very lean Flash Alloys tested.

Edison Welding Institute has welded Flash 4130 and the results are available from an AWS Presentation made by Ohio State University. A dozen other locations and fab shops have welded Flash Bainite with no signs of any concern at all. Three SAE Baja vehicles have been welded with Flash Bainite, one of which is on the 2nd from last page of the Power Point presention on this site.

Flash Bainite when welded does not eliminate HAZ. Our strongest weld to date is 129ksi from an ER120 weld rod. While this is only half the strength of 260ksi Flash 4130 parent material, it is still a very respectable strength. Considering that 6061-T6 aluminum is only 45ksi and the weld a little weaker, on a pound per pound basis, a Flash Bainite weld is still stronger than 6061-T6 aluminum or its weld seam.

In welded tubing, Flash Processing can be used to transform the tubing and the weld seam to Flash Bainite. Flash 4130 tubing is more than triple the strength of "chrome moly" 4130 tubing. The picture on the "company" page of this site shows the remarkable ductility of such tubing.

Two pieces of welded steel can also be Flash Processed. When welding raw AISI4130 with comparable chemistry filler rod, the resulting weld seam after Flash Processing can be just as strong as the parent material. In this case the HAZ is eliminated as the weld bead itself is Flash Processed. "

 

[no skid marks]

and the metal in the heat zone next to the weld?
So if I get my Flash Bainite frame heated to 11000 then cooled rapidly the whole frames, welds and all will have the strength of the origonal tubing? The frame structure unfortunatly would distort, no?

 

[heavy metal]

Cockeyed frames stronger than ****!