Foreign superpowers eye Australia
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Originally posted by maurizio13:
Kobe Steel Achieves World's Strongest Aluminum Alloy
Tokyo, Japan, Mar 31, 2007 - (JCN Newswire) - Kobe Steel, Ltd. announces that it has created the world's strongest aluminum alloy, with a tensile strength of 780 MPa, using a spray forming process that it has developed.
Kobe Steel is seeking applications that can make use of the new alloy's light weight, high strength and excellent processing features. Kobe Steel is currently making sample bars of 10 mm in diameter and 100 mm in length. It is also working to establish the technology to mass-produce bars, wire rods, shapes and plates made of the alloy.
"This value-added aluminum is suitable in applications where high performance is required," said Senior Researcher Hideo Hata at Kobe Steel's Materials Research Laboratory. "By 2008, we're aiming to commercialize the new material for use in special purpose vehicles - such as race cars - and aircraft and aerospace parts," he said.
The new aluminum alloy, under patent application, has a tensile strength of 780MPa, 10% higher than the 710 MPa of Weldalite(R), an aluminum-lithium alloy developed by Lockheed Martin Corporation and used in the External Fuel Tank of the Space Shuttle. The ductility of Kobe Steel's new alloy is also high. Generally speaking, as strength increases, material workability goes down. However, with a breaking elongation of 14%, Kobe Steel's new material has nearly three times the ductility of Weldalite's 5%. Ductility is 1.4 times that of titanium alloy and maraging steel. In addition, the new alloy has one of the highest specific strengths (the tensile strength divided by the density of the new material). The higher the specific strength, the lighter and stronger the material is.
Spray forming Process
In spray forming, molten metal is "sprayed" into droplets and is quickly quenched as it turns from a liquid to solid state. Molten metal in an induction furnace flows out of a small hole in the bottom of the furnace. Nitrogen gas is blown as the molten metal exits the hole, atomizing the material into a fine mist of droplets. The droplets accumulate and solidify into a preform on a table. Spray forming prevents the segregation of high-density alloy elements and enables melting with a uniform, fine microstructure. This is impossible to achieve using conventional melting and casting processes.
Utilizing these characteristics of the process, Kobe Steel succeeded in creating an alloy with a uniform and fine microstructure. Zinc, magnesium and copper are added to strengthen the material. In conventional melting and casting processes, when the amount of the alloy elements is increased, segregation during solidification and a coarsening of the material structure occurs. This limits the amount of the alloy elements. However, Kobe Steel's spray forming process clears these problems.
Kobe Steel originally began using a spray-forming process developed by Sandvik Osprey Ltd. in the United Kingdom. It later developed its own spray-forming process for the manufacture of aluminum alloys. Kobe Steel's spray-forming technology is currently used by subsidiary Kobelco Research Institute, Inc. to produce aluminum alloy target material used in the thin-film wiring of liquid crystal display panels. As the sample pieces of the new aluminum alloy are made by the same spray-forming equipment used to produce target material, Kobe Steel will be able to achieve volume production of the new alloy in a relatively short time. Metal ingots of up to 240 kg in weight can be produced to make large parts.
About Kobe Steel, Ltd.
Kobe Steel is one of Japan's top manufacturers of aluminum and copper products. It is also a leading steelmaker in Japan. Other businesses include welding consumables, industrial machinery, engineering, construction equipment, and electronic materials. More information is available at: www.kobelco.co.jp
I am not sure what is your intention of quoting this article, I presume what you are trying to say is that you can replace iron. But my question to you is, what about COST? -
Originally posted by TCH05:
I am very impressed by your ability to cut and paste articles to support your argument, however if anybody with basic material engineering background were to read your little "genius" idea about replacing iron or steel in construction industry with a cheaper mineral, they will be laughing their heads off.
To proof my point, I would like to ask you, based on your knowledge on material, can you tell us which metal do you think has very similar or better mechanical properties as iron and is economically viable to replace iron?
Sands? Although they are use in construction industry, but they are very different in the nature as compared to mining for iron ore and coal because
1) They are not an internationally traded commodity
2) Easily collected from the riverbed with simple crane and bardge
3) They dont need expensive processing to turn ore into steel
4) There are many supplier in the market.
In an oligopoly, there is always the dominant company and they are usually the price leader. Just like when Phillip Morris annouce price adjustment for their Marlboro brands, all other premium tobacco companies will follow.
There to 2 things which the steel mills and mining companies negotiate, PRICE and ALLOCATION, and such negotiations are done on a quarterly basis.
In a seller market, such negotiation can become very complex. e.g. mining companies can offer the mills an attractive price, but they might not necessary give them quantity you need to keep their mills running.
At the moment, it is the seller market and China being the largest importer of iron ore in the world, despite them being one of the largest producer, are taken hostage by these mining companies. And that is the reason why the recent move by BHP to acquire Rio Tinto is causing so much fear to the Chinese government.
Back to my point about dictating price, suppose if China (the largest buyer in the world) is to acquire Rio Tinto, they will not have allocation worries and they will be able to dictate the price as they will become both buyer and seller.
Another thing which you might want to know is that buying iron ore and coal is not like how you will do your grocery shopping where you can switch brands anytime you like because iron ore do comes in different grade. And the orgin of the material will also affect have an impact on the cost because transportation is a big cost component in this business.
The business dealing between companies in the mining and steel industry is a very complex one, and one which you cant simply use elementary case study (like the one above) to represent.
Right now abundant use of iron for construction material is because of it's is cheap and in abundance. Like you said, if it should come to a point where prices are dictated and it becomes prohibitively expensive, obviously the construction industry will find substitutes for it. The world is dynamic, nothing stands still, everyday new things are invented. In the 1900s, who would ever thought it was possible to fly to the moon. I am very confident that if there should ever be a point in time where prices of iron becomes too expensive or scarce, there will be workarounds, nobody is going to sit on their arse and say "since we don't have any more iron, we can't build any more buildings or bridges".Maybe you can answer this. What happens if our non-renewable iron runs out? Is the world just going to stop building cars, buildings and bridges? Or are we going to find substitutes?
Take knives for example, which is traditionally formed by steel, these days you find ceramic knives with better cutting qualities.
There are substitutes for iron and steel, it's just that cost is prohibitive, should there ever come a time where the cost of iron becomes too expensive or scarce, rest assured that substitutes will be used. Like what we are doing with vehicles now, we try to find substitutes (e.g. CNG vehicles, bio diesel) from the traditional petrol derived from crude oil.
Perhaps you should read to understand. I was using sand as an example of find other substitutes, like our construction industry faced with shortage of sand last year, tries to limit the use of sand by substituting with other construction materials. I don't know why you give the whole explanation about whether it's a internationally traded commodity and processing.
Originally posted by me:
"You should know better, sand which is a major component of buildings was banned by the Indonesian government, but still we managed to place less reliance on sand and search for other alternatives. You should understand the human endeavour, whenever there is an obstacle, humans will certainly find ways to work around that obstacle. Surely, when all our non-renewable resources are used up, you don't expect humans to just sit there and say "now that there is no oil (or any other non-renewable resources), we will just sit here and die", without thinking of any alternative solutions."
Your explanation:
Sands? Although they are use in construction industry, but they are very different in the nature as compared to mining for iron ore and coal because
1) They are not an internationally traded commodity
2) Easily collected from the riverbed with simple crane and bardge
3) They dont need expensive processing to turn ore into steel
4) There are many supplier in the market.
Do you have comprehension problems?
You mean cigarettes are similar to generic iron or steel?
Cigarettes from every brand taste the same? Not necessary that once Phillip Morris, other cigarette companies will follow suit everytime, sometimes other cigarette companies don't increase prices even though Phillip Morris increased their prices. If you are talking about past increases where prices of cigarettes are raised, most of it was due to parliamentary budget, where taxes of tobacco was raised. Maybe you can substantiate your arguments with proof, instead of hypotheticals.
So where is your proof of such quarterly meetings where countries like China, Brazil, Australia, India, Russia, Ukraine, US, South Africa, Canada, Sweden, Venezuela, Kazakhstan, Iran and Mauritania sits down to fix price? You must have read from it somewhere? Any sources to cite?
So if China takes over Australian Iron mining, they can DICTATE prices and increase price by 200% or 300%?
If what you say is true, about cigarettes.
Shouldn't all cigarettes be sold at one price? There is only one clearing price for crude oil in the market.
Since you understand the iron industry and I don't, maybe you can explain it, I like complexities.
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Originally posted by TCH05:
In the first place, my purpose in this forum is different from yours, I am not here to look for arguement.
With regards to the the word "dictating price", I used that under the circumstances that if China (being the world biggest buyer of iron ore) buying into Rio Tinto (one of the world largest mining company).
When talking about oligopoly, I talk about PRICE LEADER not price dictator.
Have you given up trying to answer my question concerning replacing iron with other metals??
I am not here to look for confrontation too, but I strongly disagree with your understanding of "DICTATE" in the context of oligopoly structure.
I feel that you made a mistake, I am merely correcting it. I am not contentious about you claiming that China has strategic needs in taking over Australian resources, don't know why you keep emphasizing China strategic needs.
You used the word "dicate" in your original statement, then you use price leader to explain price dictation???Maybe you don't understand the meaning of "DICTATE".
You said that once China takes over all of Australia's production, they will DICTATE the price in the market. There are other players in the market, it's still a fragile oligopoly structure. Then you change your stance right now to, they would be price leader if they took over Australian production. Price dictation and price leadership are two totally different issues.
I thought I already gave you a response above?
Anyway your initial statement was iron, I don't know how it got morphed into steel which is an alloy.
Didn't I cut and paste the different kind of alloys that can be substitutes?
And my original statement was:
"If they take over, subject to anti-trust laws. Do you think that they would be the ONLY producer in the world? If the price exceeds the price of certain substitutes, won't consumers switch to other substitutes."
Don't start misquoting me from your limited comprehension ability. I did not say we should all replace iron for other metal substitutes, I said if the price of iron exceeds certain substitutes, won't consumers switch to other substitutes. I don't how else to make it simpler for you to understand.
Don't even understand why you give me a whole bunch of explanation,
"I am very impressed by your ability to cut and paste articles to support your argument, however if anybody with basic material engineering background were to read your little "genius" idea about replacing iron or steel in construction industry with a cheaper mineral, they will be laughing their heads off.
To proof my point, I would like to ask you, based on your knowledge on material, can you tell us which metal do you think has very similar or better mechanical properties as iron and is economically viable to replace iron?
"I am still waiting for your alternative theory for the explanation of oligopolies discrediting prisoner's dilemma from economic textbooks. Have you given up on it?
I am also waiting for your proof of which oligopoly in the iron industry DICTATE prices. Have you given up on it too?
Maybe you should read my original statement again and try your best to comprehend.
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Originally posted by TCH05:
I am not sure what is your intention of quoting this article, I presume what you are trying to say is that you can replace iron. But my question to you is, what about COST?
You are challenged.
My original statement:
"If they take over, subject to anti-trust laws. Do you think that they would be the ONLY producer in the world? If the price exceeds the price of certain substitutes, won't consumers switch to other substitutes."
You were asking about substitutes with similar strength, I merely gave you something that exceeds it, I am sure there are other alloys with better strength than iron around.
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The answers to your questions have already been posted in this thread, all you need is to do is to take some time to understand what you read and ask yourself what was your intention of asking certain specific questions.