When businesses choose materials to construct their products, they often compare the strengths of different metals. After all, businesses that create machinery, automobiles, and even furniture need metal that’s strong and sturdy. In no particular order, here are the top five strongest metals you should know about.
1. Titanium
When people think of strong metals, titanium is usually the first material that comes to mind. Titanium is immensely strong yet very lightweight, so it’s a popular material in military engineering and the aerospace industry. Sometimes, businesses prefer to mix titanium with aluminum and iron to create extremely strong, lightweight alloys.
2. Steel-Iron-Nickel Alloy
Steel by itself is a strong metal, but when you mix it with aluminum, you’ll find that its strength increases significantly. There are a few variations of this type of alloy, but one of the strongest versions is the steel-iron-nickel alloy. Nickel and its alloys, such as nickel alloy 400, are strong and durable on their own, so when you mix them with steel and iron, you create strong, durable, useful metals.
3. Tungsten
Tungsten is the third of the top five strongest metals you should know about. Tungsten has the highest tensile strength of any metal. However, it’s brittle, so it can break from an impact. To take advantage of tungsten’s strength while combating its brittle properties, people often combine this metal with steel and other metals.
4. Chromium
Although chromium is a hard metal, it doesn’t have a lot of tensile strength. You won’t see this metal by itself—rather, you’ll find many alloys that use chromium to make the metals more solid. A steel and chromium alloy is a popular choice for the automotive industry, so you’ll often find this metal in vehicle parts and accessories.
5. Stainless Steel
One of the most popular metals in countless industries is stainless steel. Engineers, scientists, architects, and more all use stainless steel to create strong bridges, buildings, vehicles, ships, and even medical equipment. Stainless steel is not only strong but also easy to maintain and corrosion resistant.