Amorphous metals

Also known as metallic glasses, amorphous metals are produced by rapid quenching of molten metal-metalloid alloys, resulting in a non-crystalline grain-free structure in the form of ribbon or narrow strips. They are extremely strong and hard yet reasonably ductile and quite corrosion resistant. Perhaps of greatest interest is the magnetic performance of several complex iron-base compositions, called Metglas. Because of their very low hysteresis and power losses, they can markedly reduce the size of transformer cores traditionally made of silicon steels. Several nickel-alloy compositions also are available for use as brazing foils.