Tuesday, January 23, 2007

LiquidMetal

Liquidmetal and Vitreloy are commercial names of a series of amorphous metal alloys developed by a California Institute of Technology research team, now marketed by a firm that the team organized called Liquidmetal Technologies. The alloys contain atoms of significantly different sizes, leading to low free volume (and therefore high viscosity) when melted. The viscosity prevents the atoms moving enough to form an ordered lattice. The material structure also results in low shrinkage during cooling, and resistance to plastic deformation.
Cool stuff. Amorphous metal alloys are actually metallic glass.
at

15 comments:

  1. pimp-a-lot bear24 January, 2007 16:56

    impressive!

    ReplyDelete
  2. cybrbeast25 January, 2007 20:00

    Once it's further developed in can be used in a whole range of high strain situations. Also see the wiki link.
    For now it's mostly used in sports equipment like golf clubs, skis, tennis rackets etc.

    ReplyDelete
  3. annom26 January, 2007 19:28

    WOW! Amazing material properties!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous27 January, 2007 12:09

    This shall probably be the only redeeming feature of the next Home Alone sequel, sure to percolate in the deadhead of Hollywood sometime soon.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hilversum27 January, 2007 15:59

    Very impressive - and it'd be even MORE impressive if the speaker stopped with the marketing bullshit. I would have closed the window early if he said "premiere" one more time.

    Please remember that the audience does have a brain.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous27 January, 2007 19:20

    I'm gonna have to throw the BS flag on that one. Watching the video closely, even through poor video you can see inconsistiencies in the bounce height. Drop a few, loop a few. Look again.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The Friendly Informer27 January, 2007 21:23

    Impressive...even if the video shows the laws of physics being broken.

    Would be nice if this material really existed though...

    ReplyDelete
  8. annom27 January, 2007 21:28

    This material does exist and it doesn't contradict physical laws.

    ReplyDelete
  9. cybrbeast27 January, 2007 22:59

    Yes it DOES exist:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquidmetal

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous27 January, 2007 23:11

    I strongly suspect the audio for this one is either highly amplified and not well-synchronized with the video, or faked.

    If I'm wrong, then it seems like most of the energy loss must be acoustic. In that case, imagine how this thing would bounce in a vacuum!

    ReplyDelete
  11. cybrbeast27 January, 2007 23:46

    I think the highest energy loss would be the friction with the air.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous28 January, 2007 02:19

    Flubber!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Unknown28 January, 2007 04:32

    was the narrator...brain from family guy?? btw thts awesome

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous06 October, 2007 03:43

    This whole column and the whole concept of Liquidmetal is bullshit as long as the Kang brothers are running the show.

    They are the two most incompetent executives I have ever met in my life.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous06 November, 2007 00:40

    All generalizations are false, including this one.

    ReplyDelete