A new way to make lighter, stronger steel -- in a flash
 

A new way to make lighter, stronger steel -- in a flash

June 9, 2011 by Pam Frost Gorder

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

A Detroit entrepreneur surprised university engineers here recently, when he invented a heat-treatment that makes steel 7 percent stronger than any steel on record – in less than 10 seconds.
...
Cola showed them his proprietary lab setup at SFP Works, LLC., where rollers carried steel sheets through flames as hot as 1100 degrees Celsius and then into a cooling liquid bath.

Though the typical temperature and length of time for hardening varies by industry, most steels are heat-treated at around 900 degrees Celsius for a few hours. Others are heated at similar temperatures for days.

Cola's entire process took less than 10 seconds.

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Here's the guy's website:
http://www.bainitesteel.com/default.asp

Flash Bainite is the Strongest, Most Ductile, Lean Alloyed, Readily Weldable, Least Expensive Ultra Strength METAL known to man.A50 tensile ranges from 1100 to 2080MPa (160-302ksi) with 8 to 9% elongation. Total elongation up to 10-11% is not uncommon. 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

http://www.bainitesteel.com/images/rollers.jpg

The process is apparently suitable for a large variety of steel sections.

Are you not talking about a glass? A glass which less maleable? How much elastic stability would result from the same process on a different 'recipe?'

This is not a glass. Pictures of the microstructure show crystal grains, as for any other steel.

http://www.bainitesteel.com/images/bainite_2.jpg
http://www.bainitesteel.com/micro_pics.asp

Expanding Innovative Materials to New Markets
Gary Cola, president of Flash Bainite Steel, which is used in the automotive industry, is hoping to make the leap to building materials.
July 13, 2017
By Blaine Brownell

...According to Cola, the next step to bringing flash-processed steel to buildings will require developing a thorough business model as well as overcoming challenges concerning industry awareness and building regulations. Preliminary fire safety tests are encouraging, however. “After a 75-minute heating process to over 1,100 degrees F, the Flash test samples still had 45-ksi yield strength when pulled on at 1,112 degrees F,” he says. “This is in stark contrast to A36 steel with 36-ksi yield strength at room temperature.” The value proposition also requires further study, but preliminary estimates are compelling. "The most prevalent and motivating benefit in using Flash Bainite in buildings will be anticipated cost reductions being able to use a steel that is three to four times stronger,” Cola says. “Even reducing the web thickness by only one-third leaves a product twice as strong or more.” The high dent- and penetration-resistance of flash-processed steel may also be of particular interest in high-abuse or high-risk settings, such as in hurricane-prone areas. Cola estimates that smaller architectural components will take a year to commercialize, and larger framing systems will require more time due to regulatory complexity. Nevertheless, Flash Bainite Steel is likely to renew awareness about the benefits of architectural lightweighting. According to Cola, “the sooner Flash is known in the building industry, the sooner this record-setting armor technology can make buildings stronger, lighter, and lower cost too.”

http://www.architectmagazine.com/tec...-new-markets_o

I'm glad that Cola is finally starting to consider adapting his product to the construction market

Could you make a real light building so you can move it when the sea level rises?

Why have buildings go into the earth, the building won't fall over if it's bolted to a building right next to it