24-10-2012, 02:13 PM
New Outboard Motor Firing on All Pistons
ABSTRACT
Seven years ago, NASA was in the planning stages of producing an aluminum alloy with higher strength and resistance
at elevated temperatures for aerospace applications. At that time, a major automobile manufacturer happened to approach
NASA for solutions to lowering engine emissions and the costs associated with developing aluminum engine pistons. The
Space Agency realized the answers to the manufacturer’s problems could lie within the proposed alloy. Jonathan Lee, a
structural materials engineer at Marshall Space Flight Center s Materials, Processes, and Manufacturing Department, and
PoShou Chen, a scientist with Huntsville, Alabama-based Morgan Research Corporation, partook in the development project
as the inventors. The resulting NASA High-Strength Aluminum Alloy, or ‘MSFC-398,’ was capable of casting metal
components at both high volume and low cost, making it extremely attractive for commercial application, not just in
automotives, but in a variety of other industries, as well. NASA patented the technology and introduced it for public licensing
in 2001.