NASA's new alloy is 1,000 times stronger than the state-of-the-art

NASA has built the new alloy to withstand extreme environments and temperatures.

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NASA innovators have created the NASA Alloy GRX-810, a new metal alloy created using 3D printing. It is an oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) alloy and can endure temperatures exceeding 2000 degrees Fahrenheit (1093 degrees Celsius). Compared to current state-of-the-art alloys, GRX-810's advantages include "twice the strength to resist fracturing," "1,000 times the durability under stress at high temperatures," and is more malleable, with "three and a half times the flexibility to stretch/bend prior to fracturing."

3D printing allowed the NASA team to uniformly disperse nanoscale oxides throughout the alloy, improving durability and high-temperature properties while using a more efficient, cost-effective, and clean manufacturing process. The team also used thermodynamic modeling to determine the final composition of the alloy.

"Applying these two processes has drastically accelerated the rate of our materials development. We can now produce new materials faster and with better performance than before. What used to take years through a trial-and-error process, now takes a matter of weeks or months to make discoveries," said Tim Smith, a material research scientist at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland and one of the inventors of this new alloy.

Ultimately, only 30 simulations were necessary to find the optimal composition of the alloy, resulting in lower costs and less time spent during development. The new alloy has been developed as part of the Transformational Tools and Technologies project, which aims to create new and innovative solutions.

"This breakthrough is revolutionary for materials development. New types of stronger and more lightweight materials play a key role as NASA aims to change the future of flight. Previously, an increase in tensile strength usually lowered a material's ability to stretch and bend before breaking, which is why our new alloy is remarkable," said Dale Hopkins, deputy project manager of NASA's Transformational Tools and Technologies project.

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