Mold metallic glass in 10 milliseconds
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A new technique allows researchers at Caltech to heat a piece of metallic glass at a rate of a million degrees per second and then mold it into any shape in just a few milliseconds. As a bonus, the technique utilizes the same inexpensive processes used to produce plastic parts.
Stronger than steel or titanium—and just as tough—metallic glass is an ideal material for everything from cell-phone cases to aircraft parts. Above, a metallic-glass rod before heating and molding (left); a molded metallic-glass part (middle); the final product trimmed of excess material (right).
In the video below, a piece of metallic glass is heated and smashed in just 10 milliseconds.
Embedded media -- click here to see it.
Full story at Futurity.
Photo credit: Marios Demetriou, Caltech
