A superplastic for panels
15th November 1968, Page 32
15th November 1968
Page 32
Page 32, 15th November 1968
— A superplastic for panels
Close
Noticed an error?
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Prestal is the name given to a superplastic zinc aluminium alloy sheet that could prove to have advantages over steel sheet for body panels and so on. Development of the sheet has been jointly announced by the British Leyland Motor Corporation, Delta Metal Co. Ltd., and Rio Tinto Zinc Corporation Ltd.
Although the cost of the material is higher than that of steel sheet, this disadvantage is outweighed by lower tooling and fabrication costs. It can be shaped by the vacuum-forming process developed for the production of plastics. While it can be stretched to a "phenomenal extent" at a highertemperature it has the properties'of a metal at normal temperatures.