MetalsFIRST™. The next step in metallurgy.

A fully integrated, solid-state process.

Faster development, simpler processing, domestic supply.

Powder becomes a finished part in days, not months, produced in the United States on a fully electrified processing chain.

The MetalsFIRST Process:

From elemental powders to finished part

01 — Composition Design

 

Foundation Alloy’s materials scientists engineer alloy compositions without the limitations of melt-based metallurgy, choosing elements and ratios using tools and datasets developed in-house. Because MetalsFIRST™ never melts, the composition is engineered for performance, not constrained by the tyranny of solidification physics.

02 — Mechanical Alloying

 

Elemental powders are loaded into high-energy ball mills and combined at the atomic level using force, not heat. Building on solid-state research that began at MIT, Foundation Alloy controls oxygen and other contaminants through a series of proprietary steps.

The result is powder that sinters to full density, using 10x less heat.

03 — Shape Forming

 

The milled powder is formed into near-net-shape components through multiple available pathways, including traditional and state of the art technologies. These “green bodies” are produced close to final geometries to reduce material waste and downstream machining.

04 — Sintering

 

Sintering brings the part to full density through proprietary, low-heat cycles, maximizing microstructure and dimensional control. Fine grain structures and isotropic properties are preserved directly through the process, eliminating the need for nearly all secondary operations.

Properties without the tradeoffs.

Conventional metallurgy forces compromises. Strength at the cost of ductility, thermal stability at the cost of strength, composition limited by what survives melting.

MetalsFIRST™ removes these constraints to deliver superior materials without the complexity of legacy processing.

Strength and ductility

Conventional molybdenum alloys require as many as 10 post-manufacturing operations to reach room-temperature ductility. Our molybdenum alloys deliver strength and ductility straight from the furnace. Up to 1,250 MPa yield strength. Up to 35% elongation. No post-processing required.

Thermal stability

Stable grain structures resist coarsening where worked alloys degrade, and precipitate hardening holds beyond where conventional approaches fail. MC1200 shows 97% hardness retention after 96 hours at 1,000°C.

Engineered Specialty Steels

Specialty steels made using MetalsFIRST™ are carbide- and oxide-strengthened, with phases precision-engineered for strength, wear and corrosion resistance, and thermal stability beyond what melt-processed tool steels can deliver. Coming soon.

No composition constraints

MetalsFIRST™ never melts the metal. Alloy compositions are designed for target properties, not limited by what conventional processing can dissolve, solidify, or homogenize.

Questions? Reach out.