Sandvik "Nanoflex"?

Chalo <[email hidden]> wrote:
: I just ran across a mention of a stainless steel material I had not
: previously heard of, so I looked it up. It's called Nanoflex, it's
: made by Sandvik, and it's got some appealing claimed properties:

: http://www.smt.sandvik.com/nanoflex

: Evidently it's an alloy that is ductile and workable in its annealed
: state, but hardens dramatically when heat treated. Sandvik claim
: mid-200,000 psi yield strength and 6% to 8% elongation as heat treated.

: I'm curious whether anybody knows about it, or better yet, has tried
: using it for a bike frame. Strength far superior to that of Reynolds
: 853 or True Temper OX Platinum along with a maintenance-free unpainted
: finish sounds like an excellent combination to me!

I wonder if this is anything like the stuff at
http://www.liquidmetal.com/technology/

- Mark

Chalo said:

I just ran across a mention of a stainless steel material I had not
previously heard of, so I looked it up. It's called Nanoflex, it's
made by Sandvik, and it's got some appealing claimed properties:

http://www.smt.sandvik.com/nanoflex

If Robin Williams had a bike made from this, would he call it the
"Nano-Nano" ?

Jefffffffpttt...

Mark Vieselmeyer said:

I wonder if this is anything like the stuff at
http://www.liquidmetal.com/technology/

I don't think so. Nanoflex is a wrought product, for one, and Liquid
Metal is formulated for casting. Also, Liquid Metal's manufacturer
claims it has an amorphous structure, while the Nanoflex site shows
what appears to be an X-ray crystallograph.

Chalo Colina

Chalo said:

I'm curious whether anybody knows about it, or better yet, has tried
using it for a bike frame. > Chalo Colina

The only cycling use of this product that i know of is in seat
rails........
http://www.biketiresdirect.com/productdetail.asp?p=SSP3O

But I'd also like to try a frames worth of the stuff!

Mark Vieselmeyer said:

Chalo <[email hidden]> wrote:
: I just ran across a mention of a stainless steel material I had not
: previously heard of, so I looked it up. It's called Nanoflex, it's
: made by Sandvik, and it's got some appealing claimed properties:

: http://www.smt.sandvik.com/nanoflex

Quoted message said:

I wonder if this is anything like the stuff at
http://www.liquidmetal.com/technology/

The density and modulus of nanoflex is pretty close to those of steel.
This liquid metal stuff doesn't give any reference to either of those
properties based on my cursory read of their web site. In fact, the
liquid metal has a bit too much adverspeak and too few hard numbers to
make me comfortable.

--
Dave
dvt at psu dot edu

dvt said:

Quoted message said:

http://www.smt.sandvik.com/nanoflex

That does look like good stuff! Better than the 17-4 and 15-5 PH
stainless I've been using for some applications. If anyone has any
comments on machinability, dimensional stability through heat treating,
and that sort of stuff, I'd like to hear about it.

I heard of it because R. J. Walsh and Sons in Australia are making a
sulky out of it. They claim it's the only person-carrying vehicle made
from Nanoflex. Their website does not mention it yet.

http://www.rjwalsh.com.au/index.html

I imagine that the material is nasty to machine, because the
formability that is claimed for it in its annealed condition indicates
a very high elongation, and the high yield strength as heat treated
tells me you wouldn't want to mess with it that way unless it was
absolutely necessary. I'd be willing to bet that it's got the annoying
surface-work-hardening characteristic endemic to most alloys that
contain nickel.

I just had to make some rocket-related parts out of hardened Inconel
718, though, and the experience has left me a little traumatized. I'm
sure Nanoflex is a cakewalk by comparison, annealed or hardened.

Chalo Colina

I've never heard of it either.. but then again the big metal companies
have been giveing trade marked names to their alloys for quite a few
years now...

The Sandvik site claims seat posts / saddle rails / handlebars but
nothing else, couple that with the comment on the data sheet that
material strength is weaked at a weld and I would guess that it is
unlikely to be made into a tube set. They don't even make it available
in seamless tube..(at least not yet)

Unfortunately there isn't a lot of actual data about the material on
the site. Plugging what data is available from the the sandvik site
into the search page from matweb there are a number of similar metals
that show up (some of them are tool steels .. so that is a pretty wide
range).

For overall properties I think it would be pretty tough to surpass 853
or OX in general "cool"

I was thinking much the same right down to my memories of working 718.
The aerospace place I was at did some forgings with it... That was
enough to make you weep, you pretty much had to anneal it between every
blow.. 6/4 titanium was a breeze after that..

In article <[email hidden]>,

Chalo said:

I just ran across a mention of a stainless steel material I had not
previously heard of, so I looked it up. It's called Nanoflex, it's
made by Sandvik, and it's got some appealing claimed properties:

http://www.smt.sandvik.com/nanoflex

Evidently it's an alloy that is ductile and workable in its annealed
state, but hardens dramatically when heat treated. Sandvik claim
mid-200,000 psi yield strength and 6% to 8% elongation as heat treated.

I'm curious whether anybody knows about it, or better yet, has tried
using it for a bike frame. Strength far superior to that of Reynolds
853 or True Temper OX Platinum along with a maintenance-free unpainted
finish sounds like an excellent combination to me!

I inquired about Nanoflex about a year ago and spoke with the rep in
Pittsburgh. It can be used for bike frames, and Sandvik was (and maybe
still is) looking for a company to use the product for that purpose.

Some of the Nanoflex strength comes from cold working, and the rep said
that strength would be lost during welding. I imagine low-temp silver
brazing might preserve much of this.

Sandvik had a pretty high minimum order requirement - 2,000 feet or
something - waaay beyond the eight or ten feet, and four or five pounds,
I would need to build one frame, as a hobbyist only.

I'm building up my last Metax tube set right now, and I'd love to find
another set of stainless tubes I could use in the future.

--
Tony Rentschler
New York, NY