A US based company has developed a new process that can increase the strength of metals such as steel by as much as 10 times, and make them much more resistant to corrosion, a report said.

If the modified metals pass field testing, the new inexpensive process could go on to make bridges and other infrastructure last far longer; it could also make cars lighter and therefore more fuel-efficient, said the MIT Technology Review report.

The Seattle-based startup that developed the process, Modumetal, is commercialising it in part in collaboration with oil companies such as Chevron, Conoco-Philips, and Hess.

Parts made using the technology are being tested in oil fields now. Some oil contains highly corrosive chemicals such as hydrogen sulfide that quickly damage production equipment. The new technology could make those parts last much longer and thus lower the cost of pursuing unconventional sources of oil. That could be just the first of a wide range of applications.

Modumetal has developed a process that gives it precise control over the structure of metals, and which allows it to make parts that are meters long.

Mudumetal CEO Christina Lomasney said the process costs the same as conventional metal treatments such as galvanization.

Modumetal uses an advanced form of electroplating. The company uses a bath that contains more than one kind of metal ion and controls how ions are deposited by varying the electrical current.