Ultra-Light Stainless Steel Composite

The makers of this sheet metal product compare its properties to that of bird bone: super-light, extremely tough, yet not at all brittle. At one to two millimetres thick, it looks solid, and can be can be cold worked and formed in some of the same ways as conventional stainless steel plate, but has under 50 percent of the weight. It is constructed like a sort of steel wafer, containing air and millions of very thin fibres stuck to the surfaces with a rubbery adhesive, forming a flexible matrix between the surfaces which make it mechanically malleable, but very strong. It’s pretty difficult to dent. It was originally developed by the auto industry for lighter and corrosion resistant cars but has recently become available for more widespread use in industrial and consumer design. It is starting to be used in aeroplane design, bringing the bird bone comparison full-circle.