What ever happened to scandium bike frames? (2016)
&gt;&quot;Easton, manufacturer of aluminum bike frame tubes, began using the technology to make lighter, stronger tube sets than anyone else on the market.<p>Scandium works by convincing aluminum molecules to restructure themselves. When aluminum is smelted it hardens into microscopic grains that fit together to make a solid architecture.<p><i>Scandium makes those grains smaller, among other things, which allows them to fit closer together for a denser, stronger overall structure</i>.<p>Scandium also <i>interrupts melted aluminum crystalizing at a molecular level when the metal cools</i>.<p>This means that the properties of the alloy are less likely to be affected by heat-treatment and welding, so a scandium-infused aluminum alloy is <i>less likely to crack while cooling</i>.<p>This is especially valuable in high-strength aluminum, like 7005 alloy. Traditionally, 7005 alloys make light, strong, forged or CNC machined bicycle components, but can&#x27;t be welded because they weaken when they melt. By adding scandium to the tube or to the filler between welded tubes, melted 7005 aluminum becomes usable in welded components, like frames.<p>So, at a chemical level, aluminum alloys infused with scandium (less than 0.5% by volume) are stronger and more weldable than scandium-free alloys.&quot;<p>PDS: There probably is a whole series of things, as of yet unknown, that can be added to metals and other elements, while they are cooling (or perhaps heating), to imbue them with various interesting properties...<p>Opinion: Modern-day metallurgy and metallurgical sciences, though its knowledge is formidable in this area -- has probably just &quot;scratched the surface&quot; of all that is possible...<p>In other words, experimentation, much more future experimentation -- is required in this area...