Liquidmetal: Amorphous Metal Alloy
Liquidmetal Technologies Inc. is a contract manufacturer that uses a patented injection molding process to produce amorphous metal components. Amorphous metals are a class of alloys developed to maintain an amorphous atomic structure in a solid state. Also known as bulk metalic glass, this alloy allows you to mold precision parts with ultra low shrinkage and achieve great mechanical properties.
Precision Netshape Molding
Contoured Geometry
Gear Teeth
Flatness + Straightness
Why Use Liquidmetal?
Strength, hardness, elasticity, and corrosion resistance are achieved directly out of the mold without secondary processes. This technology can be used in a variety of markets, typically making parts that fit in the palm of your hand.
Advantages
Yield Strength
Hardness
High Elasticity
Corrosion Resistance
Dimensional Tolerance
Reduce Machining
Eliminate
Corrosion
Plating
Dewaxing
Heat Treating
Coining
Debind / Sinter
Advanced Engineering Material
Yield Strength
Hardness
Low Modulus of Elasticity
Normally when a material is very strong and hard it is also very rigid and brittle. The amorphous atomic structure of Liquidmetal opposes this phenomenon and has the elasticity of a spring steel.
Strength to Weight
Liquidmetal has 85-90% the density of Stainless Steel. Along with reducing wall sections with the higher strength material, there are opportunities for significant weight reduction.
How Liquidmetal Parts are Made
Feedstock
Melt
Mold
Eject
Liquidmetal is a Zirconium alloy that was designed specifically for injection molding. Unlike other high-strength alloys, our alloy melts at a low temperature which allows it to be molded within our machines.
Other molding processes for high-strength alloys require complicated systems of combining and removing polymer powders from the substrate or creating single-use sand casted molds for each part.
How else is Liquidmetal unique?
Non-Magnetic
The amorphous atomic structure of Liquidmetal makes it non-magnetic, and it cannot be magnetized.
Acoustic
The lack of grain boundaries provides an efficient transmission of acoustic wave energy uniform across a wide band of frequencies. Liquidmetal can increase audible decibels, sustain, and timbre.
Precision
Liquidmetal molds with minimum shrinkage so the parts achieve the precision of CNC machining. It can also mold flat parts within microns without warping.
