Engel’s Liquid-Metal Technology Could Be a Hit

A technology leader in plastics, the Austrian firm’s collaboration with innovative metal molding firm Liquidmetal is drawing “overwhelming interest.”

 

At a recent press conference reviewing business trends in 2016, Dr. Peter Neumann, CEO of Engel Austria (U.S. office in York, Pa.) noted the “overwhelming interest” in its new Liquidmetal injection molding technology at the Hannover Fair in Germany in April. This technology utilizes amorphous zirconium alloys developed by Liquidmetal Technologies, Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. Engel, as its exclusive machinery partner, developed a special 180-ton press modified from its e-motion all-electric platform (see Aug. ’15 Close Up for details).

 

Engel executives said the market interest is coming especially from medical and consumer electronics that require molding of “very precise, thin, detailed, sophisticated” parts. They noted the good corrosion resistance of the material as one advantage. Other benefits are said to include a unique combination of hardness and elasticity, as well as relatively low specific weight. Engel sources see it as an alternative to powder injection molding (PIM), though they caution that it is aimed at “premium markets” and is a “niche of a niche.” For it to move ahead, they see a need to identify suitable moldmakers.