Round 1: Aluminum versus extreme heat. Fight!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Metal 3D printing quickly produces unique geometric parts made from aluminum alloys. But current alloys tend to crack under high heat. How can aluminum TOUGHEN up?
Enter Noaki Takara and team at Nagoya University in Japan. They developed recyclable aluminum-iron alloys that maintain high strength and flexibility at high temperatures.
How strong? How hot? At five hundred seventy-two degrees Fahrenheit for one HUNDRED hours, they don’t crack! This is the sustainability upgrade aluminum needed.
Lighter on its feet, and tougher in the heat… Who’s ready for round 2?!
Reference: Takata, N., Minamihama, K., Miyawaki, T., Cheng, Y., Xu, Y., Wang, W., … & Kato, M. (2025). Design of high-performance sustainable aluminum alloy series for laser additive manufacturing. Nature Communications, 16(1), 11105.