Most wear-resistant metal alloy in the world

And now we shall enter an era where our military has the most bling-bling tank treads ever.
 
I wonder if they'll do something practical with it.
They talk in the article about using it for coatings ... a good thing since it will probably be impossible to machine ...

A lifetime plus bicycle and motorcycle chain would be nice (and most likely quite expensive) ... and bearings/bushings that never need lubed or packed with grease (they said it produces it's own lube) and will never wear out ...
 
afishhunter said:
I wonder if they'll do something practical with it.
They talk in the article about using it for coatings ... a good thing since it will probably be impossible to machine ...
Click to expand...

Given how soft and expensive it’s going to be, I’d imagine it’s likely for tiny things that rub often, but not with a ton of force. Like contacts on computer cable plugs, for instance. Or relays.
 
That was an interesting read. Thanks for sharing!

I like how they accidentally found out it was self lubricating, I bet once they saw that, little dollar signs popped into their eyeballs like a cartoon, haha.
 
Dangerously said:
Given how soft and expensive it’s going to be, I’d imagine it’s likely for tiny things that rub often, but not with a ton of force. Like contacts on computer cable plugs, for instance. Or relays.
Click to expand...
I don't know. If they could do a plasma coating at the molecular level, it could might, maybe, possibly, be used on chains and bearings.
 
Yes, many applications of this - it's self 'DLC' coating!

...from the end of the article: (this is extremely interesting)

Still, there will always be surprises in science. In a separate paper published in Carbon, the Sandia team describes the results of a remarkable accident. One day, while measuring wear on their platinum-gold, an unexpected black film started forming on top. They recognized it: diamond-like carbon, one of the world’s best man-made coatings, slick as graphite and hard as diamond. Their creation was making its own lubricant, and a good one at that.

Diamond-like carbon usually requires special conditions to manufacture, and yet the alloy synthesized it spontaneously.

“We believe the stability and inherent resistance to wear allows carbon-containing molecules from the environment to stick and degrade during sliding to ultimately form diamond-like carbon,” Curry said. “Industry has other methods of doing this, but they typically involve vacuum chambers with high temperature plasmas of carbon species. It can get very expensive.”

The phenomenon could be harnessed to further enhance the already impressive performance of the metal, and it could also potentially lead to a simpler, more cost-effective way to mass-produce premium lubricant.
 
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