[AR] Re: New Al Alloy
- From: Jonathan Goff <jongoff@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 13:10:36 -0600
Nathan,
There are already several alloys with more than 16.5% higher strength than
6061-T6. The questions for rocket stuff is thermal conductivity, solidus,
high temperature strength, etc. Not just raw room-temperature strength. For
instance 7068-T6 has a yield strength of almost 100ksi (vs ~40ksi for
6061), and has 190ish W/m*K thermal conductivity (compared to like 160ish
W/m*K). But it's solidus is only something like 485C (compared to 560ish C
for 6061), which means its high temperature strength/creep characteristics
are probably quite a bit worse than 6061.
If this is a 6xxx series alloy with good thermal conductivity, and similar
solidus to 6061, it might be a good replacement. Ultimately, it would be
interesting to see someone do a detailed thermal analysis of a rocket
engine using some of the various potential aluminum alloys to see which
combination of factors really matters most. I have some hunches, but not
being actively in the rocket world anymore I don't really have the time to
investigate.
Would be really interested if someone wanted to do some sort of simplified
analysis though and publish it on aRocket though!
~Jon
On Wed, Oct 30, 2013 at 1:03 PM, Nathan Mogk <nm8911@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Apparently Alcoa recently unveiled a new alloy for use in truck wheels
> that is 16.5% stronger than 6061. This may be an interesting alloy for
> rockets when they let it into the market. There wasn't any real detail in
> the press release that I saw, and they didn't mention (and I didn't look
> up) what heat treatment of 6061 they are comparing with.
>
> Here is the press release
>
> http://www.asminternational.org/portal/site/www/NewsItem/?vgnextoid=3a23ccc1c26e1410VgnVCM100000621e010aRCRD
>
>
>
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