Plastics News Europe - September 2019 - 12

injection moulding

➡ Continued from page 11
End products such as visible parts in
the jewellery industry, or medical
tools that require a reflective surface,
can be polished or processed further.
Heat treatment, such as needed in
the MIM process to achieve high
hardness and high component
strength, is not required for amorphous metals. At the same time,
amorphous metals exhibit elastic
elongation of up to 1.8 percent without any post-treatment. In case of
elongation greater than 1.8 percent,
however, no catastrophic failure results. The material is plastically malleable by a further two to four percent.
The composition of the material
and fully automated production process have resulted in cycle times -
from melting to dynamically controlled injection - of up to 70 percent
shorter compared to earlier solutions.
Heating requirements are reduced by
40 to 60 percent. This significantly increases the cost efficiency in the technology. The newly developed injection moulding machine achieves very
high standard injection speeds of
1,000 millimetres per second. This
makes it possible to achieve very low
wall thicknesses and thus make optimum use of the higher material
strengths of Amloy.

Save costs - even before
the first prototype
Simulation can save time and money
in the run-up to the manufacturing
process. To that end, Heraeus Amloy
performs simulation studies of the
flow behaviour of amorphous metals
during injection moulding, and analyses in advance whether the process is
suitable for the specific component,
and where the design of the component and injection mould can be optimised.
"In our Technikum, or technical
centre, we are in close contact with
our customers. We work with them
to optimise every order, to create

On the basis of its proven hydraulic and tie-bar-less victory range,
ENGEL has developed a new injection moulding machine for
processing amorphous metals from Heraeus' Amloy product range

prototypes, and we offer to simulate
individual process steps," explains
Valeska Melde.
Two-component moulding offers
a cost-effective alternative in cases
where it is not necessary for the entire component to be produced from
an amorphous metal. This process
will be demonstrated live for the first
time at the Engel Austria booth at the
K trade fair in Düsseldorf.
Heraeus Amloy alloys are particularly suitable for mechanically-stressed
precision components and for very
high-quality decorative elements in
the automotive, aerospace, medical
technology, industrial, lifestyle and
electronics sectors. In these applications, they outperform steel, titanium
or engineering plastics, which are
chrome-plated in a further step after
injection moulding. All Heraeus Amloy materials and injection moulding
machines are offered license-free.

Ready for the future
Amorphous metals display their full
strength in components that require
high strength and, at the same time,
high elasticity. They are the first choice
for components with a lower weight,
because at 6.6 - 6.8 gram per cubic
centimetre, they have a lower density

than many other materials.
"And if low abrasion or reliable
corrosion resistance is highly important for the application, there is no
real alternative to amorphous metals,
either," as Valeska Melde points out.
Heraeus Amloy and Engel are already
working with customers from a range
of areas to gain practical experience
and to incorporate this knowledge
directly into product development.
Zirconium-based alloys have established themselves as the standard
solution at Heraeus. These have good
flow properties and are suitable for
cold rolling. Copper-based alloys can
be used for very thin components because they have a lower viscosity.
Currently, Heraeus Amloy is working
on commercialising titanium- and
platinum-based alloys. Titaniumbased alloys have a significant advantage for aerospace. Titanium is also a
material of choice for medical components such as small-bone implants
or cardiac pacemakers. Platinumbased alloys are of interest to the jewellery industry because pure platinum
is very soft. The amorphous state increases its scratch resistance. With
such a wide range of alloys, the prospects are bright. Amloy is ready for
the challenges of the future.

september 2019

http://www.vismec.com

Plastics News Europe - September 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Plastics News Europe - September 2019