Lockalloy is an alloy that consists of 62% beryllium and 38% aluminum. It was used as a structural metal in the aerospace industry because of its high specific strength[1] and stiffness.[2] The alloy was first developed in the 1960s by the Lockheed Missiles and Space Company.[3][4] The material was used in the Lockheed YF12 and LGM-30 Minuteman missile systems. In the 1970s production difficulties limited the material to a few specialized uses and by the mid 1970s Lockalloy was no longer commercially available.[5][2]

In 1990, Materion Beryllium & Composites re-introduced the material into the commercial marketplace as a powder-sintered composite under the trade name of AlBeMet.[2]

References

  1. ^ McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
  2. ^ a b c Parsonage, Tom. "Development of Aluminum Beryllium for Structural Applications" (PDF). Materion. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  3. ^ Cameron, Kevin (August 5, 2015). "ESSAY: When is the Future Coming?". Cycle World. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  4. ^ DTIC ADA041284: Lockalloy Be-38Al Material Characterization, 1976 Year-End Report, by Defense Technical Information Center
  5. ^ Hausner, Henry Herman (1965). Beryllium its Metallurgy and Properties. University of California Press. p. 189. ISBN 978-0520005419.
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