#alloys

back when we were learning to make clarinets in college in the 80s (a great throwaway phrase), we used nickel silver to forge clarinet keys by hand (which was very finicky but also satisfying), and we were told that technically the metal is a "nickel brass", since brass is fundamentally an alloy of copper and zinc

so we went to look up the alloy in wikipedia, and it casually lists off several alternative names for the alloy

Nickel silver

Shiny alloy of copper, nickel, and zinc

For the animal, see Alpaca.

Nickel silver, maillechort, German silver, argentan, new silver, nickel brass, albata, or alpacca is a cupronickel (copper with nickel) alloy with the addition of zinc.

and we were immediately jolted by the inclusion of alpacas to the discussion until we saw it mentioned in the list of alternative names for the alloy

so we went hunting for the reason why it's known as alpacca - and this is where it got really frustrating

though there's widespread mention of alpacca as being a name for the metal, no references we could find online had an explanation as to why it's called that - and the complete Oxford English Dictionary doesn't even reference it at all, which we admit shocked us to the core

the closest we've been able to get to it is a couple of references to it being a "trade name", but no searches so far have turned up who originally called it that

obviously we wondered (given the al- at the start) whether it's an arabic name, but so far we can't find any evidence of that either

and one other possibility is it's a bastardisation of albata, another name for the alloy - which in spite of also looking arabic is actually from the latin for "looks white" in reference to the surprising silveriness of a copper alloy

AM Texture Control Moves Toward Programmable Materials

A new review proposes that crystallographic texture is becoming a design variable in metal additive manufacturing. This could be important for metal additive manufacturing, especially Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) and Directed Energy Deposition (DED). The way grains grow during solidification can strongly affect strength, fatigue life, creep resistance, corrosion behavior and thermal conductivity. Most AM operators already know that metal parts are often anisotropic. A part can behave differently in the build direction than it does across the build plane. Crystallographic texture is one of the reasons why: many grains may align in preferred directions rather than forming a random structure.

Nickel Alloy Screening Reveals Four Promising Catalysts for Cleaner Aircraft Exhaust

A high-throughput computational framework narrowed 12 nickel-based alloys to four leading candidates, placing Ni-Cr-Pt at the forefront of efforts to develop durable catalysts for cleaner aircraft exhaust. A recent paper, published online as an article in press in the journal npj Computational Materials, introduced a computational framework for designing catalysts to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from commercial aircraft. Utilizing quantum chemical simulations, microkinetic modeling, and high-throughput screening, researchers identified a new class of nickel (Ni)-based ternary alloys predicted to combine catalytic activity with thermodynamic stability under representative jet-engine exhaust conditions.

LPBF-Titan: Researchers embed functional strain sensors into metal

Self-monitoring metal components are getting closer. A research team has embedded functioning multi-layer strain sensors directly into titanium, which is produced in laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF). So far, such an endeavor has mostly failed due to heat. Polymers dielectric materials and adhesives carbonize or detach at high temperatures. Therefore, earlier attempts often used stainless steels or nickel alloys and relied on cavities, coatings, or retrofitted components. Titanium, especially Ti-6Al-4V, further complicates the project due to its low thermal conductivity and narrow process window. Especially in aerospace and implants, integrated sensor technology would be particularly useful. A team from Argonne National Laboratory, University College London, and the University of Sheffield combines several approaches. They write conductive tracks via Direct Ink Writing (DIW), use a tailored polymer dielectric, and apply a powder-based thermal barrier before melting the top layer. The dielectric consists of a thin layer of tripropylenglycol diacrylate (TPGDA), followed by DIW tracks made from a silver nanoparticle ink. Surface optimization via low-current plasma enabled structure widths of around ten micrometers. Above approximately 200 degrees Celsius, the polymer degradation accelerates. Curing at 150 degrees for over 3,800 seconds provided stable resistance of around 350 ohms.

Sandvik launches Osprey GRCop-42 copper alloy powder for space propulsion 3D printing

Sandvik, a Sweden-headquartered industrial technology group and gas-atomized metal powder producer, has launched Osprey GRCop-42, a copper-chromium-niobium alloy powder for additive manufacturing of space propulsion components. The material is intended for high-heat applications where material traceability and repeatable performance are central to qualification. Originally developed by NASA, GRCop-42 is a copper alloy for components exposed to demanding thermal and mechanical loads. Sandvik is targeting uses including fuel injector faces and combustion chamber linings, particularly for regeneratively cooled rocket engine hardware. The material combines high thermal conductivity with strength retention at elevated temperatures. Sandvik states that GRCop-42 retains strength above 500°C, making it suitable for components designed to manage high heat flux during operation.

ARCI develops crack-free bi-metallic superalloy structure using additive manufacturing

Laser powder bed fusion process joins stainless steel to Inconel without cracking, a result DST reported could reduce superalloy imports into India

Researchers at the International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI) in Hyderabad, an autonomous institute under India’s Department of Science and Technology (DST), have built a crack-free bi-metallic structure joining stainless steel and a nickel-based superalloy through PBF-LB/M additive manufacturing. The team deposited stainless steel (SS316L) directly onto a surface-ground Inconel 718 (IN718) plate, producing an interface free of visible cracks or porosity. Micro-hardness testing recorded a peak of about 310 HV at the interface, and tensile testing measured an ultimate tensile strength of 550 ± 30 MPa, with failure occurring on the softer stainless steel side rather than at the junction, pointing to a sound bond across the interface.