Researchers at the University of Hong Kong and Lawrence Berkeley National Labs (LBNL) believe they have managed to produce a type of steel that has high-level performance in all three key properties that need to be balanced in steel – strength, toughness and ductility.
This ‘Super Steel’ has a yield strength resistance against deformation of around 2 GigaPascals, a fracture toughness of 102 MPa-m½, and a uniform elongation of 1%.
Scientists are saying that they believe this means that it’s stronger and tougher than the Grade 300 maraging steel used in aerospace engineering (at 20% the price tag of manufacturing).