ABS (Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) is tough, resilient, and easily molded. It is usually opaque, although some grades can now be transparent, and it can be given vivid colors. ABS-PVC alloys are tougher than standard ABS and, in…
Alumina (Al2O3) is to technical ceramics what mild steel is to metals - cheap, easy to process, the workhorse of the industry. It is the material of spark plugs, electrical insulators and ceramic substrates for microcircuits. In single-crystal form…
The high-strength aluminum alloys rely on age-hardening - a sequence of heat treatment steps that causes the precipitation of a nano-scale dispersion of intermetallics that impede dislocation motion and impart strength. This can be as high as 700 MPa…
Metal matrix composites are metals reinforced with ceramic particles. The most widely used are based on aluminum reinforced with particles of silicon carbide or alumina. The reinforcement increases the stiffness, strength and maximum service…
Balsa lumber is very soft and light, with a coarse, open grain. The density of dry balsa wood ranges from 40–340 kg/m^3 (2.5–21.2 lb/cu ft), with a typical density of about 160 kg/m^3 (10 lb/cu ft). The wood of the living tree has large cells…
Balsa lumber is very soft and light, with a coarse, open grain. The density of dry balsa wood ranges from 40–340 kg/m^3 (2.5–21.2 lb/cu ft), with a typical density of about 160 kg/m^3 (10 lb/cu ft). The wood of the living tree has large cells…
Bamboo is nature's gift to the construction industry. Think of it - a hollow tube, exceptionally strong and light, growing so fast that it can be harvested after a year, and - given a little longer - reaching a diameter of 0.3 meters and a height of…
Birch is a hardwood harvested in most of the Northern Hemisphere. And even though it is a relative to the oak, the lumber is much harder than oak. Birch is widely used in the cabinet industry, mostly because it makes superior plywood that is stable,…