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Old 07-01-2018, 03:44 PM   #10 (permalink)
freebeard
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Quote:
Unless you are doing a theoretical[-]money is [no object] exercise.
Heh.

If I have my history correct, 25hp VW engine cases were 'aluminum', then the went to 'magnesium' with the 36hp vevision and finally Type IV and aftermarket cases were aluminum again.

What the question reminds me of is that rotary engine seals were either cheap and low-mileage or expensive and lasts-forever. There's an opportunity for a cheap but lasts forever solution.

The other thing is additive manufacturing. Even given the gamut of alloys and plastics, being able to integrate them at the mesoscale at scale means metamaterial alloys with programmable features.

Printing a bronze bushing in a steel bracket is only the beginning. Object with a solid skin and Voronoi cell infill will be superinsulative, and light.
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