Liquidmetal Technologies Inc (LQMT)

[Anax]

Yeah, cellular structured BMG sheets would be definitely game-changing for the aerospace and automotive industry. Thanks to you and gamesc for sharing information about the technology. Steipp mentioned in the Q2 conference call, that the production of sheets is another arrow in the quiver. And indeed they must be researching on those production processes for awhile. For example see this patent, which was filed in March 2012 by CIP and Apple and published two monts ago:

AMORPHOUS ALLOY ROLL FORMING OF FEEDSTOCK OR COMPONENT PART



Roll Forming Processes for BMG Sheet

"[00066] In one embodiment, one could do thermo-forming and roll forming using rollers having uniform gap between rollers in order to generate a uniform thickness sheet. Alternatively, in a different embodiment is the rollers could be patterned with channels or other features which could separate the material into smaller units as it solidifies. For example, the rollers could have patterns on their surface such a waffle pattern, for example, having roughly rectangular or square indentations. Now, if one were to pour the molten alloy between those two rollers, then on the exit side of the rollers one could end up with either discrete units which match those depressions in the rollers or one could end up with a patterned sheet which could be primarily or completely amorphous."

"[00070] In the embodiments herein the molten amorphous alloy forming material could be poured between two moving molds which could provide the required cooling rate and also shaping operation necessary to produce final feed stock.

[00071] One could control the cooling so that in the end one could end up with a cooling rate of a 1,000 degree C per second, and that cooling rate could be throughout the thickness of the sheet. However, for the some of the bulk amorphous alloys of the embodiments herein the cooling rates could in the range of 1 to 100 degree C per second. So for these materials the cooling between these rollers could have to be such that the materials are cooled between 1 to 100 degrees C per second in order to render them amorphous at the exit of the rollers. For the majority of the materials tested by the embodiments herein, the critical cooling rate could be in the range of 1 to 10 degrees C per second. Therefore, for these materials, one could more easily control the cooling of the bulk solidifying amorphous alloy forming materials to form bulk solidifying amorphous alloys."

"[00073] The thickness range of the bulk-solidifying amorphous alloy sheets made the roll forming processes of the embodiments herein can be in the millimeter range to something on the order of ½ inch thickness or approximately 10 to 15 millimeters in thickness. At the thin end, the thickness could be 0.3 to 0.5 millimeter, i.e., 300-500 microns, or something of that order."




Multilayered BMG Sheets

"[00079] In yet another embodiment, one could form a laminate of bulk solidifying amorphous alloy. In yet another embodiment, one could form a laminate of bulk solidifying amorphous alloy and a thermoplastic polymer. For example, see Figure 4, where the material supplied on spools could be just bulk solidifying amorphous alloy sheets or a combination of bulk solidifying amorphous alloy sheets and thermoplastic polymer sheets. For example, in Figure 4, the top, middle and bottom spools could contain bulk amorphous alloy sheets while the two intermediate spools could contain thermoplastic polymer sheets, thereby forming a laminate of structure B/P/B P B where B stand for bulk solidifying amorphous alloy and P stands for thermoplastic polymer. The thermoplastic polymer could be any thermoplastic that can be thermo-plastically processed in the superplastic temperature range of the bulk solidifying amorphous alloy. For example, the thermoplastic polymer could be polyetheretherketone (PEEK), polyethersulfone (PES), or polyesters, among others."

Why polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and polyethersulfone (PES)?

Long Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polyethersulfone Resins are commercialized by BASF. Apparently this CFRP has a really high fracture toughness. Although one can increase the ductility (fracture toughness) of bulk metallic glass by inducing small crystalline dendrites within the BMG matrix, a multi-layered composite out of special CFRP and BMG is an very interesting idea, as one could combine the super high yield strength and elasticity of BMGs and the high fracture toughness and ductility of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polyethersulfone. Just look at the microstructure of the polymer:



So, I believe, that Liquidmetal has been researching and developing on various sheet manufacturing technologies for almost 2 years. First, the very early filing date indicates this (note that this 2 year old patent might be just one of the first, next to the pilkington sheet forming process, we saw in July), and secondly because of the statements in the latest quarterly reports:

Q1
"Research and development expenses increased to $236, or 193% of revenue, for the three months ended March 31, 2013 from $188, or 96% of revenue, for the three months ended March 31, 2012. The expenses increased as we continue to perform research and development of new Liquidmetal alloys and related processing capabilities, develop new manufacturing techniques, and contract with consultants to advance the development of Liquidmetal alloys."

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1141240/000143774913005968/lmr_10q-033113.htm

Q3
"Research and development expenses increased to $368 and $829 for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013, respectively, from $217 and $616 for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012, respectively. The increase from the prior year was mainly due to additional company research during 2013, inclusive of testing programs related to our golf subsidiary, and the hiring of our Vice President of Engineering at the end of 2012. We continue to perform research and development of new Liquidmetal alloys and related processing capabilities, develop new manufacturing techniques, and contract with consultants to advance the development of Liquidmetal alloys and related production processes."

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1141240/000143774913014310/lqmt20130930_10q.htm

I believe, that we will see more patents the next months, which will give insight into the continuation of the various production processes, they have been developing on for the last 1-2 years together with Apple. While the injection molding technology finds its way into the market, Liquidmetal can use the new funds to prepare a new production capability.

To whatts: I think this is the production process and the industrial applications in automotive and aerospace, Materion is highly interested in. There are plenty intersections with their services. For instance hot and cold rolling http://materion.com/Services/Fabrication/Rolling.aspx