Alchemy alive and well in the 21st Century....

Owing to its strength, formability, joinability, and affordability, steel has been the structural material of choice for mass-produced motor vehicles since it replaced wood in the 1920s, but that doesn’t mean that automakers and their materials suppliers ever stopped searching for better alternatives. Witness the recent efforts to build lightweight cars from aluminum and carbon-fiber composites; however, these substitute substances are generally more costly than steel.



Recently, however, three materials scientists at the Graduate Institute of Ferrous Technology at Pohang University of Science and Technology in South Korea have come up with another potential option—lightweight steel. Professors Hansoo Kim and Nack J. Kim, together with doctoral student Sang-Heon Kim, have developed a low-density steel alloy that exhibits higher specific tensile strength and ductility than titanium alloys—the lightest and strongest metals known, but potentially at one-tenth the cost, according to a paper published in the February 5th issue of the

“Because of its lightness, our steel may find many applications in automotive and aircraft manufacturing,”

Can you imagine anyone wanting to drive one of those deathtrap Fieros?