MOSCOW, May 19. /TASS/. The Siberian Federal University (SFU) together with RPC Magnetic Hydrodynamics has rolled out ultra-thin aluminum wire for use in the aerospace industry, the SFU’s press office said. This breakthrough makes it possible to manufacture on-board wires with high electro-conductivity capable of withstanding temperature swings in a long-term usage. The customers have been already supplied with a pilot batch.

This innovation’s uniqueness resides in the application of high-frequency electromagnetic field while casting aluminum which can be in that way accomplished continuously. As a result, the finished material possesses crucial features for the spacecraft technology: low mass, high electro-conductivity, and thermal resistance. Now, the onboard wire systems for flight vehicles are made from copper, whose unit weight of is triple that of aluminum.

The client for the ultra-thin wire was the Special Design Bureau of the Cable Industry, a Russian enterprise dealing with the development of products for the rocket, space, aerial, and naval fields. Pilot batches of 100-200 kg. have been supplied also to the Moscow-based company Specavia and the Krasnoyarsk-based Aliance Metal Group.

At the moment, the developers have upgraded the laboratory facilities and experimental-industrial complex and are ready to organize batch production of items based on various aluminum alloys. For the technology and equipment, the corresponding Russian patents have been received.