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From: Stig Agermose <Stig_Agermose@online.pol.dk>
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1998 05:43:16 +0200
Fwd Date: Thu, 03 Sep 1998 06:06:07 -0400
Subject: Liquid Metal Calls The Shots


Source: Discovery Channel Online

http://www.discovery.com/news/briefs/brief3.html


Stig

*******

'Liquid Metal' Calls the Shots


Heavy metal's got a brand new bag, and it comes in liquid form.

A new metal alloy, called Vitreloy, is the first ever produced
whose atoms remain in a liquid state -- called an amorphous
structure -- which gives it unprecedented properties of
strength, hardness and weight.

According to today's issue of the journal Materials World, most
alloys crystallize into planes as they cool, which in turn makes
them susceptible to fractures, defects and other wear. But the
secret to Vitreloy is all in the cooling.

Researchers at Cal Tech and then at the Howmet Corporation in
Greenwich, Conn., discovered a way to mix mostly zirconium with
beryllium, titanium, copper and nickel, and then cool it slowly
so that it doesn't turn into solid form: liquid metal.

As a result, Vitreloy is twice as hard as titanium, for example,
with three-quarters the density of stainless steel and a
chrome-like smoothness.

"It's actually a high-density liquid," says Mike Tenhover, an
engineer for Amorphous Technology International, which purchased
the license from Cal Tech and markets golf clubs made of the
alloy under the name, Liquid Metal Golf. "It was actually
designed specifically for golf. But there are a variety of other
applications as well that we're exploring."

Tenhover says they are developing Vitreloy under a U.S. Army
contract for anti-tank weapons. At the same time, they are
looking into the production of watch cases that would replace
nickel and other metals, which can cause allergic reactions.

To take advantage of Vitreloy's smoothness and hardness, they
have successfully tested the medical use of the metal in
hip-replacement joints.

Steve Hill, editor of Materials World, says, "The key is the
process that allows this metal to form the way it does. I can
see a whole host of uses, including aerospace applications,
where you need incredible strength and a lightweight nature,
like airplane frames, for example,
although it remains to be seen what will be cost effective to market."


By Christopher Jones, Discovery Channel Online News

DISCOVERY ONLINE 

Copyright =A9 1998 Discovery Communications Inc.