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As pretty as aluminum is, it's way too soft. I have a CNC milled android device and it's got some nasty bumps from me dropping it on the ground. Plastic, while
by Kenji 10y ago
As pretty as aluminum is, it's way too soft. I have a CNC milled android device and it's got some nasty bumps from me dropping it on the ground. Plastic, while not as shiny and fancy, is much better suited and more resilient if you value material strength and usability over looks. It's cheaper too.
- laurentdc 10y agoThis. Drop a MacBook (or any other aluminum gadget) and it's bent out of shape forever. Good plastic (glass-fiber or carbon-fiber reinforced) is generally... plastic.
- wlesieutre 10y agoIf that's a materials pun, it's actually the opposite. A dent that bounces back to its original shape is elastic. Plastic deformation is the metal phone that stays dented after the force is removed.
- laurentdc 10y agoRight! Took physics way too long ago.
- adrianratnapala 10y agoErr, it seems that the complaint here is that aluminium deforms plastically while plastic deforms elastically. This is why English is fun.
- awqrre 10y agoCouldn't you reinforce aluminum with glass-fiber too (or carbon-fiber)?
- kpil 10y agoI guess you could try to make a composite steel-aluminium material, as the steel has a yield point and will take the load when stretched. But I doubt it will work good for compression.
- ridgeguy 10y agoYou can. Here's one company that does (ceramic) fiber reinforced aluminum. http://specmaterials.com/fra.html http://specmaterials.com/fra.html There's lots of research literature on carbon nanotube reinforced aluminum.
- notJim 10y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabi-sabi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabi-sabi :)