Mighty Crystal

The erudite science of solid-state physics can predict from theory how strong a metallic crystal should be if all its atoms were arranged in a perfect, regular pattern. The figure is usually so high that the real metal seems like mush by comparison. Crystals formed in ordinary ways, e.g., by cooling from a liquid, are full of imperfections and irregularities that reduce their strength. Crystals of pure iron, for instance, should, in theory, be a hundred times stronger than they actually are.

Last week General Electric announced that two of its scientists, Dr. Robert L. Fullman and Arno Gatti, have created a slender crystal of iron that is nearly as strong as it should be in theory. The G.E. crystal is only 1/1000 of an inch in diameter (the diameter of the finest human hair is about 1/1500 of an inch), but careful tests have proved it astoundingly strong. If its cross section were one square inch, it could hold up a weight of almost 1,000,000 pounds.

This is far stronger than any known metal or alloy. The tensile strength of annealed iron wire is about 60,000 Ibs. per sq. in. The best alloy steel, a carefully contrived structure of many different kinds of crystals, has a tensile strength of less than 500,000 Ibs. per sq. in.

Besides being monstrously strong, said G.E., the perfect iron crystal does not rust like ordinary iron. The same orderly structure that makes it strong seems to protect it from oxidation.

So far, the perfect crystals have no practical utility. Said Dr. C. G. Suits, G.E. director of research: "We certainly cannot use them to support a suspension bridge. But their discovery is very recent. In time, applied science and technology will find a practical use for this form of metal."

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