A co-founder of the company that launched the new alloy predicted the metal will redefine the current uses of refractory alloys and open new markets for them.
BOSTON—The latest in a new class of metals pioneered by metals company Foundation Alloy is a strong molybdenum alloy that combines superior performance, versatility, and reliability with simple, clean, and rapid manufacturing.
Foundation Alloy introduced Molyclast™ MC1200 in January, calling it “the strongest molybdenum alloy ever commercialized.” In a release accompanying the launch, the company said MC1200 is up to three times stronger than the current market leader, with exceptional room temperature ductility. Its combination of strength and manufacturability is said to unlock entirely new engineering capabilities for a broad array of customers in the semiconductor manufacturing, aerospace and defense, and medical imaging sectors, among others.
“With MC1200, Foundation Alloy takes a leap towards the ideal for refractory metals, unlocking persistent ductility in an alloy of very high strength,” said Christopher Schuh, Ph.D. and Dean of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern University, former Head of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT, and co-founder of Foundation Alloy, in a statement. “This is the result of advancements in both formulation and processing together, the only way to realize the full promise of metals. MC1200 will not only redefine the current uses of refractory alloys, but also open new markets for them by eliminating multiple of their greatest limiting drawbacks.”
According to Foundation Alloy, MC1200 delivers a unique combination of benefits that removes long-standing tradeoffs in materials selection. Its high strength doesn’t come at the expense of room temperature ductility, improving manufacturability, and margin of safety in service. Likewise, engineers no longer have to choose between strength and high temperature performance.
“MC1200’s fully recrystallized microstructure delivers predictable strength from 25C to over 1500C, avoiding the embrittlement and precipitous property loss common in refractory alloys,” the company said in the release.
These advantages extend directly to manufacturing. Because MC1200 achieves its superior properties in the as-sintered state, components can be produced as near-net shapes. This enables true geometric freedom in part design, guarantees uniform performance in all dimensions (reportedly a first in the molybdenum market), and eliminates more than 60 percent of processing time and scrap in refractory component manufacturing.
The MC1200 alloy is processed using Foundation Alloy’s proprietary MetalsFIRST™ metallurgy platform, which eliminates melting and enables precise control over alloy chemistry and microstructure. This process is reported to produce a fully recrystallized part with grain sizes approximately 100 times smaller than conventional molybdenum alloy components, contributing to MC1200’s high strength.
According to Foundation Alloy, the technology enables “faster and more capital-efficient production of groundbreaking new alloys for the industrial world.”
“MC1200 is the first in a new category of ultra high-performance metals that are simple to manufacture and scale,” said CEO Jake Guglin, in the release. “With MetalsFIRST™, we are breaking conventional alloy limits and putting new materials in the field in months, instead of years. Our customers are already benefiting from both the new capabilities and speed, and with the release of MC1200, we are proving yet again that we can push performance farther and faster than any other materials company in the world.”
Foundation Alloy said MC1200 has moved beyond development, as the company has been manufacturing customer parts and validating performance through in-field testing.