Alloys of Aluminum

Abstract

The equipment used in this work has been very crude and that to a very great extent limited. Then, too this branch of metallurgy is very wide and an exhausting research terein might require a lifetime and more, and that be well-spent, This paper covers only the minutest part of this field, however, and does not claim to have obtained in magnificent results in that. However, this work may be prove of some small value in the researches of someone else, and it is hoped that we may yet be able to carry it further. We have noted several interesting general facts in the preparation of this paper. In the first place, Magnalium will always be hard to prepare and to alloy with other metals, due to the fact that magnesium oxidizes so readily, even after it has become dispersed through some other metal. Manganese hardens the metal considerably; in high percentages it causes brittleness, but this is not noticeable in small percentages. Likewise, small percentages of chromium harden the metal materially, without injury to the other properties. Nickel hardens and toughens the alloy. None of the above metals raise the specific gravity unduly, when their percentages are kept fairly low. It is to be reasonably expected that an alloy of aluminum can be found someday which will have the hardness of steel, greater tensile strength than any aluminum alloy now known, and still maintaining its low specific gravity. [From Conclusion]