Boeing’s latest venture-capital investment, in a company called Gamma Alloys, aims to give a boost to next-generation aluminum alloys that may show up one day in Boeing’s airplanes.
The investment by Boeing’s HorizonX venture arm, announced today, is the first to focus on advanced materials and machining development and applications.
Gamma Alloys, founded in 2008 with its headquarters in Valencia, Calif., is developing alloys that use alumina nanoparticles (Al2O3) to reinforce aluminum. Boeing says the alloys provide increased stiffness, improved wear resistance and greater strength than current materials across a wider range of temperatures.
Nano-reinforced alloys are particularly well-suited for applications in aerospace and automobile manufacturing.
