Calfen

Calfen is everywhere. It's in your home, in your car, it's even in your pocket right now. So if you want to boycott our mines and foundries, well, you'll have to make a few sacrifices.

— James Moore, 318

Calfen, also known as Super-Steel or Wonder Steel, is an alloy made up of iron and aluminum, with a small portion of carbon and nickel to improve its fracture resistance and tensile strength. Its name originally refered to its individual chemical components, which are C-Al-Fe-Ni. The resulting alloy is often mixed with chromium to produce a corrosion-resistant metal. Because of its low density and somewhat higher durability compared to traditional steel, calfen has progressively become the go-to construction material. It is now used in buildings, infrastructure, vehicles and everyday items alike. While its manufacturing process is more complex than traditional steel, the abundance of resources and mills dedicated to its production means that it remains an affordable construction material for any project, no matter how small or how large.

Since its invention, industrial calfen is entirely produced in orbital foundries across Elysium. This is both because of an industry-wide shift towards space assets and because of its complex manufacturing process, requiring highly accurate treatment to produce it. Modern calfen comes in a variety of grades depending on its composition and its production method, with more than 4 billion tons produced each year. This calfen is used everywhere, from kitchen ustensils to massive warships, making it one of the most, if not the most, versatile material in the world.

Usage

Steel by Shutterstock

Type:
Material
Discovered:
2067 A.D.
Major Users:
Vestan Federation
Enodian Ascendancy
Elysian Security Organization
Unity Concord
Non-Aligned Nomad Fleets
Criminal Underworld

Ever since its invention during the Solar Age, calfen quickly became the most common alloy on the market. It was lighter and more durable than any other construction material, and it eventually replaced steel in most if not all applications. Since calfen is half as dense as steel, yet as strong or even stronger against mechanical forces, these applications can range from cutlery to warships, further emphasizing the alloy's versatility. Calfen is also widely used in the construction of buildings, vehicles, machinery and infrastructure in general, as it is one of the most used materials after concrete. Other uses include weapons such as firearms and blades, storage containers and so on. Unfortunately, calfen has a slightly worse resistance to extreme temperatures than traditional steel, limiting its uses to more common environmental constraints.

History

Calfen was initially developed in the aftermath of World War 3 back in the Solar Age. It was designed as a potential substitute for both steel and aluminum alloys for military vehicles, but it had such a success that it quickly gained interest for the global reconstruction efforts. Using nanoscopic adjustments to the alloy's molecular structure, the first calfen samples quickly became a popular subject for engineers and scientists alike, earning the title of "Wonder Material of the 21^st century". The new alloy was eventually named calfen, as an alloy of Carbon, ALuminum, iron (Fe) and Nickel. Its complex manufacturing process was slowly addressed by more optimized mills and a reconversion or the construction of numerous production facilities.

As its cost dropped, its uses grew exponentially, eventually overtaking steel as the go-to construction material. Advances in manufacturing methods made calfen cheaper and faster to produce, while also allowing for a more diverse range of applications. This trend was inherited by the Founders after the Odyssey Initiative arrived in the Aurigan system. Calfen was used as the basic construction material for many prefabs and early buildings, initially taken from the Ulysses's stockpiles and later produced locally in newly constructed mills.

Calfen production was eventually relocated to orbital mills when new production methods became available, exploiting the zero-g environments to produce an even purer alloy. This gave birth to a whole new industry and a whole new range of calfen quality and type available to the market, making it one of the most, if not the most, versatile alloys in the world. Nowadays, the calfen industry is present in nearly every settled system, and calfen can be found in almost any object.