Elektron (alloy)

History

Elektron or Elektronmetall was first developed in 1908 by Gustav Pistor and Wilhelm Moschel at the Bitterfeld works of Chemische Fabrik Griesheim-Elektron (CFGE or CFG), the headquarters of which was in Griesheim am Main, Germany.{{Cite book |access-date=11 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222071114/http://www.alu-web.de/fileadmin/material/epaper/dowloads/Aluminium/Aluminium_Zeitung_09_07.pdf |archive-date=22 February 2014 |url-status=dead

CFG joined the newly created IG Farben as an associate company in 1916. During the Allied Occupation after World War I, a Major Charles J. P. Ball, DSO, MC, of the Royal Horse Artillery was stationed in Germany. He later joined F. A. Hughes and Co. Ltd., which began manufacturing elektron in the UK under licence from IG Farben from around 1923.

CFG merged fully with the IG Farben conglomerate in 1925 along with Versuchsbau Hellmuth Hirth (a copper alloy manufacturer), to form another company, Elektronmetall Bad Cannstatt Stuttgart. In 1935, IG Farben, ICI and F. A. Hughes and Co. (22% shares) founded Magnesium Elektron Ltd. of Clifton, Greater Manchester. The company is still manufacturing alloys in 2017.{{cite web |access-date = 25 January 2013 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121016051000/http://www.zrchem.com/company-profile-article.asp?id=14 |archive-date = 16 October 2012 |access-date=11 October 2013 |archive-date=22 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222215700/http://www.businesschemistry.org/article/?article=74 |url-status=dead

Uses

Elektron has been used in Zeppelin airships, aircraft, and motor racing applications.

Incendiary bombs using elektron were developed towards the end of the First World War by both Germany (the B-1E Elektronbrandbombe or Stabbrandbombe) and the UK. Although neither side used this type of bomb operationally during the conflict, Erich Ludendorff mentions in his memoirs a plan to bomb Paris with a new type of incendiary bomb with the aim of overwhelming the city's fire services;{{cite book

British and German incendiary bombs used extensively during World War II weighed about 1 kg and consisted of an outer casing made of elektron alloy, which was filled with thermite pellets and fitted with a fuse. The fuse ignited the thermite, which in turn ignited the magnesium casing; it burned for about 15 minutes. Trying to douse the fire with water only intensified the reaction. It could not be extinguished and burned at such a high temperature that it could penetrate armour plate.{{cite web | access-date= 18 July 2019

In 1924, magnesium alloys (AZ; 2,5–3,0% Al; 3,0–4,0% Zn) were used in automobile pistons diecast by Elektronmetall Bad Cannstatt, another IG Farben company formed out of Versuchsbau Hellmuth Hirth.

The main engine bearers of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the Junkers Ju 87 were made from forged elektron. The air-cooled BMW 801 radial aero engine that powered the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 had a fan made of magnesium alloy, very probably elektron.

An advertisement in the German trade paper Flugsport in 1939 claimed that the record-breaking Arado Ar 79 aircraft contained 25% by weight of elektron, mostly in the Hirth HM 504 A2 4-cylinder inline engine whose crankcase was made of Elektron.{{cite journal |trans-title=Materials proportions by volume of the AR 79 (advertising back matter)

The connectors for the fuel pipes in the engine compartment of Tiger II tanks were originally made of elektron, but they distorted when clamped and were replaced with steel ones.{{cite book |last1=Jentz |first1=Thomas L. |last2=Doyle |first2=H. L. |title=Germany's Tiger Tanks: VK 45.02 to Tiger II - Design, Production and Modifications |date=1997b

Siemens-Halske used elektron casings for their Hellschreiber military teleprinter used during WW2.

The prototype 4-seater 1948 Planet Satellite had a monocoque fuselage of elektron, a solid elektron keel and wings skinned in elektron, but the keel suffered from stress failures and never reached production.

The bodywork of certain racing cars utilized elektron, including the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR that infamously crashed in the 1955 Le Mans race, highlighting its flammability.

References

References

1. (27 June 1935). "Advertisements: Industry". Flight.
2. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63755791#pstart5312606 ''The Mail'' (Adelaide), 21 December 1918, p. 1].
3. Hanson, Neil. ''First Blitz'', Doubleday, London, 2008. p. 414 (Chapter 17).
4. Brown, Robert E.. (17 May 2018). "Review of magnesium for the 75th anniversary of the IMA".
5. Dorenberg, F. (2010) [http://www.nonstopsystems.com/radio/hellschreiber-components.htm#construction Feld-Hellschreiber Components]. Accessed 10 October 2013.
6. Pearce, William. (June 2021). "Planet Satellite Light Aircraft".
7. Spurring, Quentin (2011). ''Le Mans 1949-59''. Sherborne, Dorset: Evro Publishing {{ISBN. 9781844255375, p. 217.