• @Sam_Bass
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    3210 months ago

    Aluminum “rusts” as well. White rust. Aluminum oxide.

    • SkaveRat
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      3010 months ago

      in fact, it rusts so fast, that it’s pretty much impossible to get a “clean” aluminium surface while oxygen is around

      • @Maalus
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        310 months ago

        They had to invent an entirely new style of welding to weld it correctly because it rusts so much you can’t even melt it for welding reliably.

    • @Buddahriffic
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      1410 months ago

      And if you combine that with magnesium powder, you can make a historic doping agent to coat your zeppelin with!

    • Liz
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      210 months ago

      Yeah but like, in order to get significant amounts of it you gotta be in a relatively harsh environment.

      • @Olhonestjim
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        510 months ago

        You get a lot of it at sea. Not supposed to polish it off though, because the aluminum oxide acts as a barrier to further corrosion, whereas iron oxide flakes and continually exposes fresh surface.

        • Liz
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          110 months ago

          Yeah I imagine you would. Salty water loves to eat things up.

      • @Sam_Bass
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        110 months ago

        Dunno how harsh a warehouse is. We used to get oxidized stuff for our presses a lot

        • Liz
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          310 months ago

          It depends on what’s in the warehouse. The only place I’ve seen significant aluminum corrosion was inside a vac frame hood with years of corrosive fumes in it. But, I’m sure there’s a middle ground. Aluminum isn’t inert, but it’s better than raw iron at resisting corrosion.

          • @Sam_Bass
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            210 months ago

            Really depends on the grade of material. Aluminum has several different grades of varying hardness, ductility, resistance. Same as steel. Corrosion is the bane of most usable metals and industries are constantly researching methods to fight it

        • Liz
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          110 months ago

          Yeah that’s true, metal to metal contacts can have some fun interactions.