Move over titanium!

Hum … Forgive the cynic.

Quote: minimum practical thickness for use [for Ti 6Al4V]: 1/4"
Not sure what they are on about here, but I have never used Ti anywhere near that thickness. Makes me wonder …

Far more to the point is that the process for making the stuff is FAST, compared to conventional heat-soak treatment. Regardless of comparisons with Ti, that speed of processing is worth big $$$.

OK, samples may be sent to me …

Cheers

I read about this yesterday. Pretty cool stuff. The guy who invented it will probably become the next John D Rockefeller in terms of wealth and power.

still going to rust.

Won't rust in stainless… if they can make it work, that is:)

It does have a whiff of "cold fusion" about it, and the proof's in the pudding. You'll know it's real when you can buy a golf club of the stuff.

Cheers,

Rick

"Bainite is a structure which can form in steels, named after Edgar Bain who discovered (with E. C. Davenport) the structure around 1930."

Bainite is not new.
The Flash Bainite Process is new.

All the stuff currently on the net is from their press release packet.
Time will tell if the process is efficient and reproducible.

And if it is…good things will come.
If not, then just another Flash in the pan.

The only way to make Bainite thin enough for us is if it heat rolled or cold rolled under high pressure to make it super thin.
Terry

I'm a little skeptical about the way this is being presented–too much showmanship, too little science. I'm not sure, for example, why the company's website makes a big deal about the name "Flash Bainite" being trademarked, but nothing about getting the process patented.

Reading the peer-reviewed paper (pdf on company website) it looks like the big difference between flash-processed steel and the control was processing time (<10 sec vs ~ 6 minutes), not yield strength or ductility. As Roger says, that's prob. a big deal for industry (if the process can be scaled up), maybe not so much for lightweight backpacking.

Wait and see, I suppose.

Hmm, you've all made good points. I was running on very little sleep and when I started hearing the claims of being so strong and light I jumped to conclusions. Figured I'd at least share it to let the real gear heads mull over it. Seems you've all been able to put more detailed thought into it than I did at the time.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see on this one.

Reading a bit about bainite: this new process simply removes the "curing" phase that steel goes under before being rapidly cooled to make today's modern steels. By removing the curing process, carbon does not diffuse throughout the entire steel sample, so when cooled bainite structures form.

The biggest issue now will be to perfect the process so that a consistent product is made. I would assume the samples tested were the 'best' samples produced to date, not random samples.