National University of Science and Technology, Russia, has developed a technology for producing a unique heat-resistant aluminium alloy with improved durability in cooperation with their colleagues from the Siberian Federal University and the Research and Production Centre of Magnetic Hydrodynamics (Krasnoyarsk).
According to the researchers, this new alloy could replace more expensive and heavier copper conductors in aircraft and high-speed rail transport. An aluminium alloy is initially cast as a long billet, about 10 mm in diameter, in an electromagnetic crystalliser. The alloys structure is thermally stable up to and including 4000°C and is considerably superior to known aluminium alloys.
The researchers have conducted direct deformation of a long billet – rolling and drawing – without using the traditional operations of homogenization and hardening for aluminium alloys. The key feature of their proposed technology lies in the casting and annealing regimes which produce a structure of thermally stable nanoparticles containing copper (Cu), manganese (Mn) and zirconium (Zr).
Heat-resistant, high-strength conductivity conductors could find use in aircraft and high-speed rail transport instead of the significantly more expensive and heavier copper ones. According to the authors, the unique and cheap technology could interest producers of wrought aluminium alloy semi-finished products.
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