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Liquidmetal Behaves Like Plastic
Tech-front
(SME)Society of Manufacturing Engineers, March 2003
Scientists at Caltech (Pasadena, CA) and Liquidmetal® Technologies
(Tampa, FL) have developed a technology that causes metal to
behave like plastic.
These alloys are unique materials
that are characterized by a random
atomic structure, in contrast to the
crystalline atomic structure possessed
by ordinary metals and alloys. This
class of alloys is called Liquidmctal due
to its amorphous or liquid-atomic
structure. Rather than changing the
atomic structure from a liquid state to a
crystalline state, Liquidmetal® alloys
gradually increase their viscosity as the
temperature decreases. All other metals
are either in a solid or liquid state,
depending on the temperature.
The superior properties of Liquidmetal alloy are
made possible by scientific and technological innovations.
First, its amorphous atomic structure is
unprecedented for structural metals.
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