Many types of steel might be strong, but they don’t exactly make for lightweight products. However, many industry professionals consider chromoly to be the most viable alternative. Also known as AISI 4130, this exceptional product is a medium carbon, low alloy steel, ensuring it’s ideal for everything from aircraft components to lightning-fast road bikes.
Chromoly has been commonplace in the aerospace and automotive industries for decades. Yet it’s also becoming used increasingly in high-end bicycle production and other technical applications. Ready to learn more? Here we highlight why chromoly is the best choice for people looking to manufacture light yet sturdy products.
Lighter than most
Chromoly isn’t the lightest metal available, but it offers an incredible combination of properties that make it appealing to product designers and manufacturing operations. Although it’s marginally heavier than aluminium, it delivers superior tensile strength, making it incredible for applications such as roll cages in racing cars. As your components can be lighter and stronger than what’s possible with most other materials, chromoly provides significantly improved performance across a variety of applications.
Cheaper than the alternatives
The weight and strength of your components isn’t the only consideration in product design. You also have to produce something that makes sense financially. While a lightweight material like titanium offers similar strength to steel, its intensive manufacturing process typically means it costs far more for the business and, therefore, the end-user. Carbon fibre also encounters many of the same problems. However, chromoly’s affordable nature means it overcomes many of these challenging hurdles.
Weldable and formable
Popular lightweight materials such as carbon fibre and titanium can deliver incredible performance. However, they are also hugely complicated to work with due to their manufacturing complexities or brittle nature. Yet chromoly can be welded in much the same way as everyday steel, with TIG welding known to be particularly fast and effective.
Meanwhile, this material is also remarkably pliable, making it suitable for a diverse list of applications, including bicycle tubing, crankshafts, tie rods and various high-performance tools. Although chromoly isn’t as rust-resistant as stainless steel, it still provides a wonderfully strong product that offers designers an array of advantages.
Speak to the metal experts
Need world-class aircraft materials and supplies? Contact the team at Airport Metals to find out how our metal products are ideal for your upcoming project. Contact 03 9310 5566, email [email protected] or leave your details on our easy-to-complete online enquiry form.