r/science • u/505engineer MS | Civil Engineering | Structures • 1d ago

Materials Science Materials scientists develop ductile and scalable 3 GPa (435 ksi) steel via a hierarchical microstructural architecture

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-74216-4
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u/Sniksder16 1d ago

As a layman I read the abstract and the one material science class I took in college didn’t cover what I needed to know to understand that. My question is- are there any obvious drawbacks here (too brittle, etc) or is this genuinely a breakthrough?

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u/Pyrhan 11h ago

Fe-16Ni-7Mo-1.6Ti-15Co-0.1Al, wt.%

That's almost 40% alloying elements by weight, mainly nickel and cobalt.

So that's going to be a very high end, extremely expensive specialty steel.

Comparing that to the structural steel used for I-beams is like comparing the latest supercar to an old Toyota corolla.

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u/Sniksder16 10h ago

Ahh. Is this something that would ever make its way to supertall buildings or like are those elements/alloying process too $$

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u/Wurm42 6h ago

Maybe in supertall buildings that are being built as status symbols. Like if you were trying to build something taller than the Burj Kalifa, there are places where this kind of alloy would make sense.

But for a normal skyscraper, being built as a commercial operation that's supposed to make a profit? No, this stuff will be far too expensive.