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I remember a discussion on another forum I had with a few people some 10 years ago regarding the use of carbon fiber in sled manufacturing. I was just a young punk studying material science and advanced manufacturing.
The discussion went in the direction that carbon fiber components would be on sleds by the next model year. Keep in mind this was 2005. I respectfully disagreed, citing that carbon fibre mass production is extremely expensive to tool for, plus there is a tendency for flaws in mass production of carbon fibre (air pockets and contaminants in the resin can effectively reduce its strength to nothing, perhaps that's why polaris carbon bumper is junk. But that's a different discussion for another day)
Now to the point of this post
http://www.economist.com/news/scien...-alloy-iron-and-aluminium-good-titanium-tenth
Since I read a small article on this today, I've been doing some digging and it does appear to be the real deal. To summarize for those who don't want to read the article, it's all about a material scientist from South Korea and the development of a low cost titanium replacement. I have yet see some real material science reports on things like tensile strength,ductility, maliability, or the actual mass so I can not do a true comparison yet. But if it's truly low cost replacement for titanium, and is remotely close to Ti alloys there are some pretty large ramifications
The fact that the developers have already approached one of the worlds largest steel producers to mass produce this material tells me all things are a go. The fact that this alloy is comprised of readily available, cheap, and abundant materials says costs should remain relatively low.
What does all this mean?
1- the price of Ti could bottom if a cheap alternative is out there,opening up for larger use of Ti
2-wide spread use of this new alloy in areosoace, Automotive, and our beloved snowmobiles
Now I'm dreaming a bit, but my imagination has been running Wild all day with this, but just think of things like;
A- lightened crank ,Ti crank shafts are by no means a new development but they are expensive. A lightened crank would boost efficiency. We all have heard the effects of decreasing rotating mass, do there is more than just the benefit of reducing over all weight when the aled hits a scale
B- exhaust. Take your entire exhaust system and cut its weight to by who knows what percentage. Once again a larger ramification than just scale weight, this could mean the stock suitcase that many replace with an obnoxious lightweight can could remain. Removing the negative aspects of noise in the riding areas we are currently fighting over. Kind of a big deal
C- replace every current nut, bolt, steel rivet, bearing, ball joint, exhaust valve, steering post, and suspension spring with a new lightweight alloy version. What would that do to scale weight?
D- 4 stroke engine. Imagine howuch could be shed for weight, could change the way we view a 4s for their weight penalties
I'm predicting a 300 ish pound sled sooner than we think. We are knocking in the door of 400 from a production model now. Give it 5 years
Also I would caution against buying stocks in titanium producers. Could be bad business in the near future
The discussion went in the direction that carbon fiber components would be on sleds by the next model year. Keep in mind this was 2005. I respectfully disagreed, citing that carbon fibre mass production is extremely expensive to tool for, plus there is a tendency for flaws in mass production of carbon fibre (air pockets and contaminants in the resin can effectively reduce its strength to nothing, perhaps that's why polaris carbon bumper is junk. But that's a different discussion for another day)
Now to the point of this post
http://www.economist.com/news/scien...-alloy-iron-and-aluminium-good-titanium-tenth
Since I read a small article on this today, I've been doing some digging and it does appear to be the real deal. To summarize for those who don't want to read the article, it's all about a material scientist from South Korea and the development of a low cost titanium replacement. I have yet see some real material science reports on things like tensile strength,ductility, maliability, or the actual mass so I can not do a true comparison yet. But if it's truly low cost replacement for titanium, and is remotely close to Ti alloys there are some pretty large ramifications
The fact that the developers have already approached one of the worlds largest steel producers to mass produce this material tells me all things are a go. The fact that this alloy is comprised of readily available, cheap, and abundant materials says costs should remain relatively low.
What does all this mean?
1- the price of Ti could bottom if a cheap alternative is out there,opening up for larger use of Ti
2-wide spread use of this new alloy in areosoace, Automotive, and our beloved snowmobiles
Now I'm dreaming a bit, but my imagination has been running Wild all day with this, but just think of things like;
A- lightened crank ,Ti crank shafts are by no means a new development but they are expensive. A lightened crank would boost efficiency. We all have heard the effects of decreasing rotating mass, do there is more than just the benefit of reducing over all weight when the aled hits a scale
B- exhaust. Take your entire exhaust system and cut its weight to by who knows what percentage. Once again a larger ramification than just scale weight, this could mean the stock suitcase that many replace with an obnoxious lightweight can could remain. Removing the negative aspects of noise in the riding areas we are currently fighting over. Kind of a big deal
C- replace every current nut, bolt, steel rivet, bearing, ball joint, exhaust valve, steering post, and suspension spring with a new lightweight alloy version. What would that do to scale weight?
D- 4 stroke engine. Imagine howuch could be shed for weight, could change the way we view a 4s for their weight penalties
I'm predicting a 300 ish pound sled sooner than we think. We are knocking in the door of 400 from a production model now. Give it 5 years
Also I would caution against buying stocks in titanium producers. Could be bad business in the near future
