More than 30 years' research and industrial experience on metals and materials, electroplating, electroforming, metal matrix composite. We provide consulting and research services on following areas:
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Phone: 224-532-0786GOLDEN RIVER ADVANCED MATERIALS provides you the following advanced services:
Electrodeposition is a well-known technique to produce in situ metallic coatings by the action of an electric current on a conductive material immersed in a solution containing a salt of the metal to be deposited. GRAM offers the following consulting, research and development services:
(1) Metal/Alloy electroplating
Depending the purposes of the coating, GRAM offers decorative, corrosion resistant, wear resistant and high temperature application coatings. Copper electroplating for ELECTRONICS is GRAM's expertise as well. Most of us know that copper conducts electricity extremely well. It is a relatively soft metal that offers high thermal conductivity. Using copper for plating is also much less expensive than when plating with precious metals such as gold and silver. It's these properties that make copper highly valuable in plating for electronics parts and components.
(2) Metal/Alloy Electroforming
Electroforming is a metal forming process that forms parts through electrodeposition on a model, known in the industry as a mandrel. Conductive (metallic) mandrels are passivated (chemically) to preclude 'plating' and thereby to allow subsequent separation of the finished electroform. Non-conductive (glass, silicon, plastic) mandrels require the deposition of a conductive layer prior to electrodeposition. Conductive layers can be deposited chemically, or using vacuum deposition techniques (e.g., gold sputtering). The outer surface of the mandrel forms the inner surface of the form.
In recent years, due to its ability to replicate a mandrel surface very precisely with practically no loss of fidelity, electroforming has taken on new importance in the fabrication of micro and nano-scale metallic devices and in producing precision injection moulds with micro- and nano-scale features for production of non-metallic micro-moulded objects.
GRAM has extensive experience in precision electroforming from miniature instrument components to ultraviolet reflectors, complex parts and functional parts in different applications.
Mathematical modeling of electrochemical systems across multiple time and length scales has been playing a vital role in the ever increasing need to design and produce high precision and high-fidelity components/parts. Length scales in electrochemical applications can range from electronic to atomic to molecular to nanoscale to microscale to macroscale.
Electrochemical modeling can offer substantial value and expand the possibilities in designing, understanding and optimizing electrochemical systems through accurate simulation, significantly assisting the design of new high-performance electrochemical systems and thereby accelerating the pace of technology development.
GRAM offers services on modeling your electrochemical system and helping with fixture and shielding design in your system. Modeling covers a wide range of applications involving electrochemical reactions.
A metal matrix composite (MMC) is composite material with at least two constituent parts, one being a metal necessarily, the other material may be a different metal or another material, such as a ceramic or organic compound. When at least three materials are present, it is called a hybrid composite.
Matrix
The matrix is the monolithic material into which the reinforcement is embedded and is completely continuous. This means that there is a path through the matrix to any point in the material, unlike two materials sandwiched together. In structural applications, the matrix is usually a lighter metal such as aluminum, magnesium, or titanium, and provides a compliant support for the reinforcement. In high-temperature applications, cobalt and cobalt-nickel alloy matrices are common.
Reinforcement
The reinforcement material is embedded into a matrix. The reinforcement does not always serve a purely structural task (reinforcing the compound), but is also used to change physical properties such as wear resistance, friction coefficient, or thermal conductivity. The reinforcement can be either continuous, or discontinuous. Discontinuous MMCs can be isotropic, and can be worked with standard metalworking techniques, such as extrusion, forging, or rolling. In addition, they may be machined using conventional techniques, but commonly would need the use of polycrystalline diamond tooling (PCD). Continuous reinforcement uses monofilament wires or fibers such as carbon fiber or silicon carbide. Because the fibers are embedded into the matrix in a certain direction, the result is an anisotropic structure in which the alignment of the material affects its strength. One of the first MMCs used boron filament as reinforcement. Discontinuous reinforcement uses "whiskers", short fibers, or particles. The most common reinforcing materials in this category are alumina and silicon carbide.
Manufacturing and forming methods
MMC manufacturing can be broken into three types-solid, liquid, and vapor.
(1) Solid state methods
Powder blending and consolidation (powder metallurgy): Powdered metal and discontinuous reinforcement are mixed and then bonded through a process of compaction, degassing, and thermo-mechanical treatment (possibly via hot isostatic pressing (HIP) or extrusion) Foil diffusion bonding: Layers of metal foil are sandwiched with long fibers, and then pressed through to form a matrix.
(2) Liquid state methods
Electroplating and electroforming: A solution containing metal ions loaded with reinforcing particles is co-deposited forming a composite material Stir casting: Discontinuous reinforcement is stirred into molten metal, which is allowed to solidify Pressure infiltration: Molten metal is infiltrated into the reinforcement through use a kind of pressure such as gas pressure Squeeze casting: Molten metal is injected into a form with fibers pre-placed inside it Spray deposition: Molten metal is sprayed onto a continuous fiber substrate Reactive processing: A chemical reaction occurs, with one of the reactants forming the matrix and the other the reinforcement
(3) Semi-solid state methods
Semi-solid powder processing: Powder mixture is heated up to semi-solid state and pressure is applied to form the composites. Physical vapor deposition: The fiber is passed through a thick cloud of vaporized metal, coating it. In comparison with conventional polymer matrix composites, MMCs are resistant to fire, can operate in wider range of temperatures, do not absorb moisture, have better electrical and thermal conductivity, are resistant to radiation damage, and do not display outgassing. On the other hand, MMCs tend to be more expensive, the fiber-reinforced materials may be difficult to fabricate, and the available experience in use is limited.
Carbon Fiber Reinforced Aluminum
Carbon fiber reinforced metal matrix composites possess a great potential to replace existing unreinforced metals and alloys in aerospace, automobiles, and petrochemical industries. The carbon fiber reinforced metal matrix composites provide excellent strength and mechanical performance, ease of manufacturing technique, excellent thermal and electrical properties, enhanced wear/corrosion resistance and reduced coef?cient of friction making CF-MMCs appropriate for a variety of engineering applications. Carbon fiber-reinforced aluminum would not only possess significant strength improvements over aluminum alloys (according the rule of mixtures), but also such composites would possess significant improvements in specific strength as well, owing to carbon fiber's strength-to-weight ratio of at least 10 times greater than that of common engineering aluminum alloys. Fiber addition would impart significant stiffness gains to the aluminum, which has a modulus near 72 GPa, while the fibers possess a modulus between 290-530 GPa. Fiber reinforcement can also impart significant dimensional stability to aluminum alloys, as the fibers have a neutral or slightly negative coefficient of thermal expansion. Dimensional stability is a key criterion for any structure operating over a range of temperatures, such as structures operating in outer space. Such areas of application have largely been off-limits to aluminum alloys, owing to their rather high coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of 22-25 ppm/°K.
The final factor making aluminum-carbon fiber composites desirable is cost. The price of carbon fiber is such that it is no longer solely the domain of high-dollar aerospace projects. Rather than $1500 / lb, fibers with excellent properties can be purchased for $15 / lb, and these fibers are in high demand from military, aerospace, and sporting goods projects the world over.
Nickel-coated carbon fiber (NiCCF) materials are of primary interest to several industry sectors. One of the most important applications for such materials is their utilization in electrostatic dissipation (ESD) and electromagnetic shielding interference (EMI) technologies. These technologies are especially important for automotive, cell-phone, laptop computer and military industry markets. Nickel-coated carbon fiber composites can be produced by means of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, electroless or by electrochemical deposition of nickel layer onto the surface of carbon fiber tow material. Gram offers advanced electroplating technique to metallize carbon fiber based on customized requirements and applications.
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