The killing of Bill Cooper and Liquid Metal Embrittlement

[tcmay at got.net]

On Wednesday, November 14, 2001, at 05:43 PM, Eric Murray wrote:

> OTOH, LME requires the metals to be liquid or close to it.  Even tin
> has a melting point around 500 degrees F, and it's a pretty
> low melting point metal.
> Engine mounting parts might get that hot, but not the exterior surface.

No, liquid metal embrittlement does not require that aluminum, for 
example, be nearly in a liquid state. The mercury amalgam that forms can 
even form at cryogenic temperatures, not to mention at normal ambient 
temperatures.

> There's probably other methods of causing quick corrosion of
> failure besides LME... what I googled about it makes me not worry
> about it as something sprayed on the exterior of aircraft to
> cause sabotage.
>
Google is great, but beware of getting your basic science just from some 
items you find.

Fontana and Greene is a good text on corrosion, and there are even some 
pretty good online descriptions of LME in connection with mercury on 
aluminum.


--Tim May