Liquid metals are a class of materials with completely new properties. Zirconium alloys have an amorphous, i.e. amorphous structure, which is why they are called glass alloys.
Parts made from these materials by liquid metal injection molding are very hard, but at the same time elastic and therefore have excellent recovery behavior. For example, steel has an elasticity of 0.2%, titanium is 1%, and parts made from liquid metal alloys have an elasticity of 2%. In addition, the materials are characterized by their low specific gravity and excellent corrosion resistance.
1, mechanical strength of 1500MPa, Rockwell hardness 53, both twice that of titanium.
2. absorbs three times more energy than spring steel and four times more than titanium, and has no permanent deformation.
3. 1.8% deformation can occur without any damage, while titanium can only deform 0.69%; thermal contraction rate is less than 0.4%.
Liquidmetal technology has opened the door to a whole new type of material and product characteristics for Engel and other metal injection molding manufacturers, which can now efficiently inject metal alloys. As the exclusive machine building partner of LiquidmetalTechnologies (California, USA), Engel is the only global supplier of injection molding system solutions for liquid metal materials and is presenting the technology for the first time at the Engel seminar in June.
In order to process these materials by injection molding, ENGEL has developed a new metal injection molding machine based on the all-electric machine series e-motion. the difference between Liquidmetal machines and normal injection molding machines for plastics processing is mainly the difference in the injection unit. Liquidmetal alloys are available in the form of chopped material cut from round bars, and these blanks are automatically fed into the melting chamber, where they are melted by induction heating under high vacuum conditions. Instead of a screw, the machine uses a plunger to inject the molten metal alloy into a temperature-controlled mold. Rapid cooling under oxygen-free conditions results in the formation of an amorphous structure, which gives the material its excellent properties.
(Note: The liquid metal forming method is die-casting, not injection molding in the true sense of the word. It is just that ENGEL is a professional injection molding equipment manufacturer and is now entering the liquid metal molding equipment comprehension. Similar to liquid metal from Liquidmetal Technologies, the reason for describing the die-casting molding of liquid metal as injection molding is related to ENGEL, but not strictly in the sense of injection molding.)
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