Scientists at Lobachevsky University develop aluminium alloys with high plasticity

Scientists at Nizhny Novgorod-based Lobachevsky University have developed aluminium alloys with high plasticity requirements that may be utilised to make equipment and electrical engineering. Aluminium alloys have the highest degree of hardness possible due to the existence of ultrafine grains, yet when heated, these alloys may expand several times their original size and become superplastic.

Aleksey Nokhrin, director of the materials diagnostics laboratory of the university, notes that the use of scandium in the alloy leads to the formation of large pores in the case of superplasticity.  This was avoided by annealing the alloy at low temperatures, causing the nanoparticles to take on a spherical shape, which helped in the formation of superplastic aluminium alloys.

“Superplasticity allows the formation of complex metal products in just a few seconds, without material loss, which cannot be achieved with traditional machining methods,” said the agency.

For instance, aluminium samples with scandium and magnesium additives stretched 9–10 times under flux at 450–500 °C before regaining their original characteristics after cooling. The alloy's electrical conductivity might be improved by this method, which is crucial for its application in electrical engineering.