AlBeMet

AlBeMet is metallic structure that is a composite of aluminum and beryllium.  It is not a true alloy of these two metals because a complete mixing of the two metals does not occur.  In the case of AlBeMet, beryllium particles are embedded in a pure aluminum metal. The metal-making process is called HIPS: Hot Isostatic Pressure Sintering.  Granular aluminum and granular beryllium are mixed and placed in a heated, constant high pressure vessel.  The chamber pressure is brought up to just below the metal melting points to a region where the combined temperature and pressure cause the metal particles to adhere to each other.

AlBeMet has very appealing mechanical properties for many applications.  It possesses much of the machining workability of aluminum and also much of the extreme hardness of beryllium.  It’s a relatively expensive metal to purchase, compared to standard aluminum alloys and that has limited its applications to those where performance is paramount to cost.

Chemically, the plating and surface preparation for AlBeMet is similar to that of traditional aluminum alloys.  However, there are some intrinsic metal properties that differentiate it.  The sintered structure of the base metal and the range of particle size and density of the beryllium create a situation where you are essentially plating two different metals simultaneously.  In addition, the alternating hardness and softness of the beryllium and aluminum create challenges to the metal working phase which, in turn, can create challenges to the metal finishing phase.

In response, we have created a proprietary cleaning and surface preparation process tailored to manage this variability.  The results have been impressive.  We are seeing gold over nickel electrodeposits routinely withstand a 572F post-plating air environment for extended periods of time.  This is far beyond the thermal tolerance of a 6061-T6 substrate plated with gold over nickel.