<strong>Perhaps the technical term you want is "brittleness"? (snip)
...But enough of the negativity. Myself, I'm kind of intrigued by this development and its potential applications. I can't believe it has been around as long as it has, and I never knew anything about it (maybe that suggests a marketing penetration issue?).</strong><hr></blockquote>
Well, brittleness isn't something they are inclined to advertise and that trait was passed onto me by a Caltech materials engineer that had worked with the stuff.
Don't get me wrong - it's cool stuff, but it's not without its flaws.
All materials developments have trouble with market penetration - particularly when they come from outside of a core industry. Materials failures contribute to a substantial number of engineering disasters (WTC, most airline disasters, Challenger, Titanic, and so on) so companies generally don't leap on innovative new materials without extensive testing.
It doesn't need to have the same velocity - it needs to generate the same stress on the metal. A childs wooden block is damn hard to break in half, but I can break a 4' 2x2 without any assistance.
A TiBook frame would consist of long, thin pieces of metal compared to a solid lump for the clubhead. Liquidmetal doesn't flex like aluminum or titanium does - it fractures. That's part of why it bounces so well - the metal doesn't deform and absorb the energy transferred to it (that's not the only reason why it bounces well, but it's part of it.) You drop that TiBook on it's corner from 5' on a tile floor, and I'd say you have a reasonable chance of fracturing it.
The same is true of glass. Drop a glass marble from even 15 feet to a concrete floor and it'll likely bounce and not shatter. Drop a picture frame from 2 feet to a floating wood floor and it's probably a gonner.</strong><hr></blockquote>
just a quick note: golf clubs are not solid lumps they are thin walled, and hollow, so they too have thin pieces.
If you read the website or watch the info like true geek then it goes on about how it is not brittle, and it is very elastic.
Maybe the tibook would just bounce right back to you. <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" />
I think the properties of this stuff will make it common place when they get the process down and make it cheap.
Comments
<strong>Perhaps the technical term you want is "brittleness"? (snip)
...But enough of the negativity. Myself, I'm kind of intrigued by this development and its potential applications. I can't believe it has been around as long as it has, and I never knew anything about it (maybe that suggests a marketing penetration issue?).</strong><hr></blockquote>
Well, brittleness isn't something they are inclined to advertise and that trait was passed onto me by a Caltech materials engineer that had worked with the stuff.
Don't get me wrong - it's cool stuff, but it's not without its flaws.
All materials developments have trouble with market penetration - particularly when they come from outside of a core industry. Materials failures contribute to a substantial number of engineering disasters (WTC, most airline disasters, Challenger, Titanic, and so on) so companies generally don't leap on innovative new materials without extensive testing.
<strong>
It doesn't need to have the same velocity - it needs to generate the same stress on the metal. A childs wooden block is damn hard to break in half, but I can break a 4' 2x2 without any assistance.
A TiBook frame would consist of long, thin pieces of metal compared to a solid lump for the clubhead. Liquidmetal doesn't flex like aluminum or titanium does - it fractures. That's part of why it bounces so well - the metal doesn't deform and absorb the energy transferred to it (that's not the only reason why it bounces well, but it's part of it.) You drop that TiBook on it's corner from 5' on a tile floor, and I'd say you have a reasonable chance of fracturing it.
The same is true of glass. Drop a glass marble from even 15 feet to a concrete floor and it'll likely bounce and not shatter. Drop a picture frame from 2 feet to a floating wood floor and it's probably a gonner.</strong><hr></blockquote>
just a quick note: golf clubs are not solid lumps they are thin walled, and hollow, so they too have thin pieces.
If you read the website or watch the info like true geek then it goes on about how it is not brittle, and it is very elastic.
Maybe the tibook would just bounce right back to you. <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" />
I think the properties of this stuff will make it common place when they get the process down and make it cheap.
Stronger, Lighter, Shapelier
LiquidMetal has some distinct advantages over
stainless steel and titanium.
Yield strength (1,000 lbs./sq. in.)
Stress level at which damage occurs.
Titanium 115
Stainless Steel 126
LiquidMetal 275
Strength-to-weight ratio
Higher is better.
Titanium 26
Stainless Steel 16
LiquidMetal 45
Elasticity Extent a material can be bent without damage.
Titanium 0.69%
Stainless Steel 0.44%
LiquidMetal 2.0%
Hardness The "Vickers" test -- higher is better.
Titanium 340
Stainless Steel 325
LiquidMetal 550
If they are right on these it seems that all your drawbacks are totally unfounded, except price.
Very cool stuff.
Now, if it is very hefty like the article reports, I wonder if a liquidmetal case would be heavier than a plastic case in a laptop..