New light metal replacing aluminum in planes

[beaulori]

Who remembers the name of the lightweight metal Cramer spoke of recently that is stonger and lighter than aluminum. Airline companies will be buy this, but I cannot remember or find the name.

Thanks,

Beau

[wallnut]

its not metal.............

Honey comb composite. look up HXL for a start.
and its not replacing all aluminum on an A/C just the "add ons" like the rudder, actuators, ailerons, wing lets, cargo floors, compt walls, etc, etc, etc........
HXL has accounts with Boeing, Airbus and a ton of others.

[Hanger]

Never actually thought of rudder, actuators, and ailerons as add-ons lol......
Anyone know if they ever tried carbon fiber......supposedly if made correctly, its stronger than metal, at a fraction of the weight...would definately help in the fuel cost area of trying to keep the weight down..

[wallnut]

Not painting them would loose a lotta weight!!
Carbon fiber is the bread of the sandwich called honey comb!!
The prob is expansion and contraction, thats why in certain light a A/C looks wrinkled. This happens in flight with pressure changes. Composite is rigid and don't react to well to pressure changes and flex, but can replace certain parts of an A/C such as the "add ons" Also the wings and center fuselage sometimes hold fuel, and carbon composites don't hold up to well with jet-a.
Another benefit of the honey comb is weight displacement.
Sorry i am babbling..

[Martin]

are you maybe thinking of titanium? if so, it's been in use for many years now

[aiki14]

Beryllium

[Hanger]

Not painting them would loose a lotta weight!!
Carbon fiber is the bread of the sandwich called honey comb!!
The prob is expansion and contraction, thats why in certain light a A/C looks wrinkled. This happens in flight with pressure changes. Composite is rigid and don't react to well to pressure changes and flex, but can replace certain parts of an A/C such as the "add ons" Also the wings and center fuselage sometimes hold fuel, and carbon composites don't hold up to well with jet-a.
Another benefit of the honey comb is weight displacement.
Sorry i am babbling..


Ahhh ok....thanks for clearing it up........I kinda thought after I typed it maybe honeycomb is carbon fiber lol........So you said the carbon fiber is the bread...whats the meat of honey comb?...just another synthetic composite?

[aiki14]

I may be wrong but I believe the OP was looking for a Beryllium play. The best of breed is Brush Wellman Inc (BW)
http://www.berylliumproducts.com/
As I answered in his other post (in another thread elsewhere on this site) I found this as a nanotech play in march and it's been tremendous but I bailed last thursday. It may be a good long but I haven't done the necessary DD for that or a specific Be play. good luck. And if I am wrong about the topic of interest my apologies.

[wallnut]

Ahhh ok....thanks for clearing it up........I kinda thought after I typed it maybe honeycomb is carbon fiber lol........So you said the carbon fiber is the bread...whats the meat of honey comb?...just another synthetic composite?

Usually aluminum,
Picture a honey bee hive, or look at the bottom of your shoes ( if you have Reebok or Nike ) Have you ever stood on an empty soda can? if done lightly it will support over 220 ( haven't tested it above that ) The honey comb is a series of octagon shaped ALU walls, the thickness of these walls
will determine the use, weight displacement, structural integrity, etc. One of the biggest probs with this stuff is that if one cell collapses the rest around it are bound to follow, kinda like a bad apple in a basket. that is why it is mostly used in flight controls ( where the wind is displaced evenly and not usually localized to a few sq. inches) and interior cargo and pass. cabin floors.

It is also not very good at energy displacement such as flight static or lightning strikes.

If you do a lil research in Airbus you will with out find something on Honey comb wing lets, they made a huge ordeal about this stuff.

[beaulori]

Thank you all, Brush Wellman is the one! Thanks again.

Beau