Aluminium–scandium alloys

An added benefit of scandium additions to aluminum is that the nanoscale Al3Sc precipitates that give the alloy its strength are coarsening resistant at relatively high temperatures (~350 °C).

This is in contrast to typical commercial 2xxx and 6xxx alloys, which quickly lose their strength at temperatures above 250 °C due to the rapid coarsening of their strengthening precipitates.

[5] A fine dispersion of nano-scale precipitate can be achieved via heat treatment that can also strengthen the alloys through order hardening.

Seidman and Dunand at Northwestern University, as well as others in the field,[1][4][7][10][11][12] resulted in pioneering aluminum superalloys strengthened with core-shell L12-structured nanoprecipitates, an f.c.c./L12 dual-phase alloy.

[14] Since 2013, Apworks GmbH, a spin-off of Airbus, has marketed a high-strength Scandium containing aluminium alloy processed using metal 3D-Printing (Laser Powder Bed Fusion) under the trademark Scalmalloy which claims very high strength & ductility.