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Lightweight Materials
Lightweight materials often consist of metals, metal alloys, ceramics, plastics, and other novel materials. They can be seen in use in nearly all production and manufacturing efforts, but few my often then the automotive field.

Content 1 Metals and Metal Alloys 1.1	Aluminum 1.1.1 Applications 1.2	Magnesium 1.2.1 Applications 1.3	Beryllium 1.3.1 Applications 1.4	Titanium 1.4.1 Applications 2	Plastics 2.1	Polyethylene 2.2	Polypropylene 2.2.1	Applications

3	Composites 3.1	Metal-matrix composites 3.1.1	Applications 3.2	Ceramics 3.2.1 Applications

4	Novel Materials 4.1	Micro-lattice 4.1.1	Applications 4.2	Carbon nanotubes 4.2.1 Applications

Metals and Metal alloys Aluminum Aluminum is used in a vast amount of our everyday world. It is used in everything from aluminum foil, beverages can, food processing utensils, aircraft, and automotive vehicles. In terms of cost and weight, it is a better electrical conductor than even copper. Aluminum has a high thermal conductivity so it can be used in things like radiator, while also having a low density which makes it excellent for all ways of transportation. Aluminum alloys are one of the easiest alloys to manipulate and above all it is non-toxic easy to recycle. Wrought aluminum alloys are great when strength and ductility are needed. The progressive oxidization process that occurs in steel is absent in aluminum. In 2006, aluminum surpassed cast iron as the second most-used material in a North American vehicle, behind steel. North Americans consume most aluminum in transportation (32%), followed by containers and packaging (21%), and building and construction (13%)

Applications There are a great number of useful applications for aluminum alloys. Aluminum alloy 2024 is corrosion resistance and is in truck tires, gears for machinery, automotive parts, screws, and rivets. The Audi, which was the first automobile that Audi built with their patented all-aluminum spaceframe design (Audi Spaceframe or ASF); the AS had a five star safety rating and is considered one of the safest vehicles on the road in the 1990s, as it is today. Aluminum alloy is used in the production of cylinder heads, pistons, connecting rods, rocker arms, gear housings, cylinder heads for gasoline and diesel engines, supercharger impellors, and chassis casting.

Magnesium Alloys Magnesium is mostly used as an additive for aluminum alloys. The magnesium that is not used in aluminum alloys are used in automotive, industrial, material handling equipment, and computer housing application. Magnesium is a fairly cheap and is easy to change into any useable form.

Applications Magnesium and magnesium alloys have uses in both structural and nonstructural applications. Magnesium compounds, like magnesium oxide, are used as refractory materials in furnaces making steel, iron, and glass. About 75% of magnesium used in the United States is used for similar processes. These included cam covers, brackets, and manual transmission cases, which used the new, greater corrosion-resistant magnesium alloys that resulted from the work of Hillis and others.

Beryllium Beryllium is an unusual metal with unusual combination of physical and mechanical properties. These properties make it very effective in optical components, precision instruments, and aerospace applications. Beryllium is lightweight, very stiff, and has a precise elastic limit. It has a high melting point and a high melt viscosity. Compare to other lightweight materials beryllium is fairly expensive. Applications

Titanium Alloys Titanium is a lightweight metal (approximately 60% of the density of iron) that can be highly strengthened by alloying and deformation processing. Titanium is not magnetic and has heat transfer properties. Titanium and its alloys have melting points higher than those of steel. Titanium is nontoxic and generally biologically compatible with human tissues and bones. The high strength-to-weight ratio of titanium alloys allows them to replace steel in many applications requiring high strength and fracture toughness. Titanium alloys have much better fatigue strength than aluminum alloys and are frequently used for highly loaded bulk-heads and frames in fighter aircraft. The corrosion resistance of titanium alloys is superior to both aluminum and steel alloys.

Titanium aluminide intermetallic are alloys based on their ordered intermetallic compounds constitute a unique class of metallic material that form long-range ordered crystal structures below a critical temperature. Because of their low density, titanium aluminide based on Ti3Al and TiAl are attractive candidates for applications in advanced aerospace engine components (latter stages of the compressor or turbine sections), airframe components, and automotive valves and turbochargers. The search for new high-temperature structural materials has stimulated much interest in ordered intermetallics. Gamma alloys have a strong titanium-aluminum bond leads to a high activation energy for diffusion. This high-energy barrier helps to retain strength and resist creep to high temperatures when diffusion becomes the rate-controlling process.

Applications The last two stages of the GE avaition’s GEnx-1B low-pressure turbine assembly are made from cast gamma TiAl blades. The blades are cast from alloy 48Al-2Cr-2Nb that has a nominal room-temperature elongation of approximately 2% and environmental resistance so that it does not require coatings for applications up to approximately 800 ºC (1470 °F). TiAl is also being considered for both intake and exhaust valve applications for automotive engines. TiAl are used to improved engine performance when used as an intake valve material. The second main area of interest for the application of TiAl within the automotive sector has been as a turbocharger wheel material in diesel engines.

Applications Titanium and its alloys are used primarily in two areas where the unique characteristics of these metals are justified corrosion resistance and strength-efficient structures. Corrosion applications normally use low-strength unalloyed titanium mill products fabricated into tanks, heat exchangers, or reactor vessels for chemical processing, desalination, or power generation plants. High-performance applications typically use high-strength titanium alloys in a very selective manner, depending on factors such as thermal environment and loading parameters. Titanium alloys have been used instead of iron or nickel alloys in aerospace applications because titanium saves weight in highly loaded components that operate at low to moderately elevated temperatures. Rotating components in gas turbine engines require titanium alloys that maximize strength efficiency and metallurgical stability at elevated temperatures.

Plastics Lightweight plastics that are used for production are known as synthetic polymer that are formed into load-bearing shapes and have characteristics that are similar to traditional materials. Plastics can also can be made with short fibers embedded into the material to increase strength. The resin-filler combinations that are possible with plastics are a much better thermal insulator than most metals. Some plastics have the ability to resist chemical reagents and solvents. Plastics are extremely lightweight, very few are effected by electromagnetic fields. High-performance applications typically use high-strength titanium alloys in a very selective manner, depending on factors such as thermal environment, loading parameters.

Polyethylene (PE) is the widest type of plastic used in industry. It has near-zero water absorption, great chemical resistance, low coefficient of friction and easy to make. The three different types of (PE) are high-density polyethylene (HDPE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), and linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE). HDPE is used blow-molded bottles, shipping, injection-molded materials handling pallets, crates, and gasoline tanks. LDPE and LLDPE are used in film form in food processing, grocery bags, and cable insulation.

Polypropylene (PP) has a low-density, rigidity, and good resistance to hydrocarbons, alcohols, oxidizing agents. PP is to make automotive parts, injection-molded closures, housewares and toys.

Applications When a plastic resin is combined with a filler the resulting product is a natural electrical insulator. Plastics have the ability to be produced with a desired level of transparency based on what is required of the plastic.

Composites Composites are lightweight, strong, provide stiffness, improved fatigue strength, corrosion resistance, and reduced assembly cost. These benefits mean better weight savings, resulting in greater performance, payload, longer range, and reduced fuel cost. The drawbacks of composite materials are high raw material, fabrication, and assembly cost. Composites are negatively affected by heat and water. They are also much harder to fix than metal structures. Composites are weak in the out-of-plane direction where the matrix carries the primary load.

Metal-matrix composites (MMCS) are capable of providing higher-temperature operating limits than their base metal counterparts, and they can be tailored to give improved strength, stiffness, thermal conductivity, abrasion resistance, creep resistance, or dimensional stability. Polymer-matrix composites, they are nonflammable, do not outgas in a vacuum, and suffer minimal attack by organic fluids such as fuels and solvents.

Applications Composites have applications in aerospace, transportation, construction, marine, sporting goods, and infrastructure. Carbon fiber composites are used where high strength and stiffness are needed.

Ceramics Ceramics are inorganic nonmetallic materials that consist of metallic and nonmetallic elements bonded together with either ionic and/or covalent bonds. Due to the absence of conduction electrons, ceramics are usually good electrical and thermal insulators.

Structural Ceramics is One of the growing uses for advanced ceramics is in the area of structural or load-bearing applications. These ceramics have high strengths at room temperature and/or retain high strength at elevated temperatures, resist deformation, are damage tolerant, and resist corrosion and oxidation.

Applications The selection process for ceramic materials is generally more complex than that for metals because of the ceramic characteristics of low-strain tolerance, low fracture toughness, and considerable scatter in strength properties. Applications in engine components are transport and control of aggressive fluids, pipe linings, cyclone linings, grinding media, pump components, electrostatic precipitator insulators, Bearings and bushings, close tolerance fittings, extrusion and forming dies, spindles, metal-forming rolls and tools, and coordinate-measuring machine structures. Materials for tribological applications require resistance to wear in the form of erosion, abrasion, and adhesion. Processing equipment includes chemical reactors and process equipment used for manufacturing a number of products. Biomedical applications encompass orthopaedic and dental implants and prostheses and knee and hip joint replacements.

Novel Materials Novel materials include carbon nanotubes, structures made at the microscopic level, and all other materials that are still being studied. When materials and elements are observed at the micro and nano-scale their properties change. These changes are what can be to create stronger lighter materials. Due to ceramics stable, strong bonds, they normally have high melting temperatures and excellent chemical stability in many hostile environments. Ceramics are inherently hard and brittle materials that, when loaded in tension, have almost no tolerance for flaws. Under an applied tensile load at room temperature, ceramics almost always fracture before any plastic deformation can occur.

Micro-lattice Micro-lattice is a newly develop materials that currently holds the record for the world’s lightest solid material. It has a density of just 0.9 milligrams per cubic centimeter. That makes it 100 time lighter than Styrofoam. The material maybe extremely light in density it is tremendously strong and absorbs energy well. It is made of microscopic hollow tubes consisting of nickel-phosphorous which are angled to connect at nodes creating a repeating pattern. The structure of the material is 99.99% open space. The material takes advantage of a hierarchical design: the wall thickness can be measured in nanometers, the diameter of each tube can be measured in microns, each tube is millimeters in length, and the entire micro-lattice material can be measured in centimeters.

Applications The predicted applications on the micro-lattice material range from battery electrodes to protective shielding to ultra-lightweight materials.

Carbon Nanotubes Carbon nanotubes are a tubed shaped structure made of carbon atoms. They are formed by rolling graphite sheets. They are single-wall nanotubes (SWNT), multi-wall nanotubes (MWNT), and double-wall nanotubes (DWNT). These nanostructures not only have the ability to be made into useful structures but also can be used to improve current materials.

Single-wall nanotubes are tubes that are often capped at the ends. They only have one cylindrical wall. Single-wall nanotubes usually have a diameter of one nanometer. While they are pliable they more difficult to form than multi-wall nanotubes. They are able to be twisted, bent, and flattened with breaking.

Multi-wall nanotubes are created in a way similar to single-wall nanotubes. The only difference is that instead of forming into cylindrical shape the final shape is a scroll. The average range of a multi-wall nanotubes diameter is 5 nm to 50 nm. They are easier to mass produce than single-wall nanotubes, but they are less understood because of their complexity and variety. These can be used in damage sensors. They operate by placing nanotubes in fibers that can measure the condition of the fibers and can also be used to monitor the state of self-healing composites.

Double-wall nanotubes are viewed as a sub-segment of multi-wall nanotubes. Double-wall nanotubes share the benefits of both single-wall nanotubes and multi-wall nanotubes. It was the electrical, thermal stability, resistance to chemicals, and flexibility. Research shows the double-wall nanotubes can be used in gas sensors, dielectrics, and field-emissions.

Carbon nanotubes and other nanoparticles when combined with existing materials can increase strength and add other desired properties to materials. These properties included but aren’t limited to high electrical conductivity and reinforcement quality. Multi-wall nanotubes in materials offer increased flexibility.

Applications The applications of single-wall nanotubes are field-emission displays, nanocomposite materials, nanosensors, and logic elements. Using different techniques of controlling electron transporting the nanotubes are being used for molecular electronics and nanoelectronics. Some possible future uses of this material are hydrogen storage. Nanotubes of two different lengths were added to two different polymers and the elastic stiffness of the polymers increased by 36% and 42% respectively.

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