NASA Develops Novel Metal Alloy That Can Endure Extreme Conditions

Jun, 2022 - By SMI

With the use of 3D printing, engineers at NASA developed a new metal alloy that possesses high strength and durability and gives long-lasting performance

In attempts of developing components with more durability that can withstand extremely harsh environments for jet engines and aircrafts, engineers at NASA developed a new metal alloy that possesses significantly impressive features at extreme temperatures. The new metal alloy reportedly consists extraordinary strength that is double than that of present state-of-the-art alloys, it has very high flexibility that may lead to development of sustainable flight.

This new material is ODS alloy that is oxide dispersion strengthened alloy. Such alloys consist oxides of nanoscale implanted throughout the alloy to increase its resistance to high temperature and its durability. The engineers used cutting-edge computational modeling for simulating the thermodynamic performance of this material in order to have an accurate arrangement and them the team used 3D-printing to create it. In nearly 30 simulations, the team of engineers achieved the ideal design for this alloy and this trial and error method takes only weeks or months, whereas with traditional methods it takes years. The team named this resulting alloy as GRX-810 that showed amazing performance advantages compared to the present state-of-the-art alloys.

When tested the capabilities of GRX-810, it exhibited double strength at 2,000˚F which is 1,093˚ C in resisting fractures, three and half times more flexibility with zero cracking when it was stretched or bent. Moreover, it showed 1,000 times more durability under stress. According to the team at NASA, with this new material comes new potentials in designing aircraft that would help to develop lighter components, lower use of fuel in jet engines and lower cost of operation and maintenance. Such new type of lightweight and stronger materials are important to changes future of flights, as per the NASA.