Industrial Management and Technology:
Stealth Metal
(Fortune Magazine)
By Erik Sherman
Stealth metal: Steel is admirably strong and durable, but its magnetic properties are ill-suited to the stealth applications that modern militaries demand. At the University of Virginia, professors Joseph Poon and Gary Shiflet used U.S. Navy funding to create small batches of amorphous steel, a glasslike form of the metal that they claim is two to three times stronger than ordinary steel and less susceptible to corrosion. It's also non-magnetic, hence theoretically invulnerable to undersea magnetic detectors and mines detonated by magnetic fields. These qualities could make amorphous steel ideal for submarine hulls, if Poon and Shiflet can find ways to reduce the alloy's brittleness. Amorphous steel can also be heated and molded like plastic. Liquidmetal Technologies of Lake Forest, Calif., owns the commercial license for nonmagnetic amorphous steel. Within three to five years the company hopes to begin selling amorphous steel products such as armor-piercing shells, surgical instruments, and sports equipment.
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