20110903

Engadget: Detroit DIYer cooks up stronger, lighter steel, shames scientists


Read this (rather old) article on Engadget. What's your first impression, fellow civil/structural engineer?

Here's the thing. In structural design, we want the steel to be ductile, not brittle. In the steel we know of and have been using, usually stronger means more brittle. That's more dangerous to use in design.

So that is one question left unanswered by this discovery. Is it steel we can actually use in civil/structural design in place of the current types of steel we commonly use? i.e. does it have sufficient ductility? Granted, it's not to say it doesn't have any use at all.

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