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> By the early 2000s, parts from the heavy presses were in every U.S. military aircraft in service, and every airplane built by Airbus and Boeing. >The savings
by gffrd 2y ago
> By the early 2000s, parts from the heavy presses were in every U.S. military aircraft in service, and every airplane built by Airbus and Boeing.
>The savings on a heavy bomber was estimated to be even greater, around 5-10% of its total cost; savings on the B-52 alone were estimated to be greater than the entire cost of the Heavy Press Program.
These are wild stats.
Great article! I was fascinated to learn about the Heavy Press program for the first time, here on HN[1] a month ago, and am glad more about it is being posted.
It makes me think: what other processes could redefine an industry or way of thinking/designing if taken a step further? We had forging and extrusion presses … but huge, high pressure ones changed the game entirely.
- twic 2y agoElectrolytic refining of iron, all the way from ore. Gets rid of blast furnaces, allows far more precise control over metallurgy.
- westurner 2y ago> It makes me think: what other processes could redefine an industry or way of thinking/designing if taken a step further Pressure-injection molded hemp plastic certainly meets spec for automotive and aerospace applications. "Plant-based epoxy enables recyclable carbon fiber" (2022) [that's stronger than steel and lighter than fiberglass] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30138954 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30138954 ... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37560244 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37560244 Silica aerogels are dermally abrasive. Applications for non-silica aerogels - for example hemp aerogels - include thermal insulation, packaging, maybe upholstery fill. There's a new method to remove oxygen from Titanium: "Cheap yet ultrapure titanium metal might enable widespread use in industry" (2024) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40768549 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40768549 "Electric recycling of Portland cement at scale" (2024) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07338-8 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07338-8 ... "Combined cement and steel recycling could cut CO2 emissions" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40452946 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40452946 "Researchers create green steel from toxic [aluminum production waste] red mud in 10 minutes" (2024) https://newatlas.com/materials/toxic-baulxite-residue-aluminum-plasma-reduction-hydrogen-green-steel https://newatlas.com/materials/toxic-baulxite-residue-alumin... There are many new imaging methods for quality inspection of steel and other metals and alloys, and biocomposites. "Seeding steel frames brings destroyed coral reefs back to life" (2024) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39735205 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39735205
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]