Liquidmetal properties
Liquidmetal properties
(OP)
Does anyone know anything about "liquidmetal" ? After reading about it in Practical Mechanics, I was looking at this website:
http://www.liquidmetal.com/technology/dsp.creators.asp
which contains the following quote :
"Liquidmetal alloys solidify without crystallizing, which Drs. Johnson and Peker believe is why they are twice as strong as titanium, but softer and more malleable".
This statement strikes me as nonsense, unless they mean they have a high UTS and a low yield point, but what use would that be in practice from a strength point of view ? Maybe it would at least provide a metal forming advantage ?
http://www.liquidmetal.com/technology/dsp.creators.asp
which contains the following quote :
"Liquidmetal alloys solidify without crystallizing, which Drs. Johnson and Peker believe is why they are twice as strong as titanium, but softer and more malleable".
This statement strikes me as nonsense, unless they mean they have a high UTS and a low yield point, but what use would that be in practice from a strength point of view ? Maybe it would at least provide a metal forming advantage ?





RE: Liquidmetal properties
As you surmise, these properties would provide a metal forming advantage; e.g., be capable of a lot of work hardening whilst cold forming.
For less hype and more info, check out the metallurgical/materials science literature.
There is a good overview article Amorphous Aluminum Alloys—Synthesis and Stability online at http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/0203/Perepezko-0203.html
Ten articles from the ‘Symposium on Structure and Properties of Bulk Amorphous Alloys’ are in the July 1998 Metall. Trans. A. Table of contents at http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/MT/A/9807/contents-9807.A.html
Abstracts can also be viewed. There is one article on a Ti65Cr13Cu16Mn4Fe2 alloy in which annealing causes a crystalline-to-amorphous phase transformation (it is usually the reverse).
RE: Liquidmetal properties
RE: Liquidmetal properties
Some aluminum alloys have been formulated to have their crystallization kinetics suppressed. These have, in turn, been quenched into amorphous powders. The consolidation of these powders, leads to very high specific stiffness metal. Liquidmetal Golf exploits an aluminum alloy which is made into amorphous powder and then cold isostatically pressed into a bulk solid. [I've also seen it cold spray-formed]. The material makes for highly effective golf club head.
A great deal of work on amorphous metal powder manufacture is being conducted by Iver Anderson at Ames Lab.
"Twice as strong as titanium, but softer and more malleable", does sound like poor wording. They're possibly trying to say that soft metals can be made stronger through the production of amorphous structure.
RE: Liquidmetal properties
RE: Liquidmetal properties
RE: Liquidmetal properties
http://www.inovati.com/pictures/graph2_large.gif
RE: Liquidmetal properties
-raw strength,
-lower expansion coeff. than for Al (especially if you
intend on carbide tipping it), and
-high hardenability if it is not to be tipped.
RE: Liquidmetal properties
RE: Liquidmetal properties
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I personally wouldn't use an aluminum composite for a boring bar. They have set diameters and I would definitely expect a bar with weaker strength than hardened steel to often distort (primarily tortionally). Even if the distortion is only elastic, it will drive the machinist crazy on runout and trueness issues, especially when taking heavy cuts.
There's also the separate issue of insert brazing.
RE: Liquidmetal properties
Take a look at this link - where they are using carbon fibre boring bars because of their high specific stiffness.
http://lacomrs6.kaist.ac.kr/main/thesis_abstract/hhy-2.htm
Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if the absolute stiffness of the carbon fibre composite was lower than that of pure tungsten carbide.
RE: Liquidmetal properties
The report, however, is not too detailed. New cutting tool materials are regularly rejected for 1 or 2 specific mechanical shortcomings.
RE: Liquidmetal properties
RE: Liquidmetal properties
RE: Liquidmetal properties