Regime for Aluminum" style="object-position: center center;">

OUR TECHNOLOGY

A New Deformation
Regime for Aluminum

Shear-based microstructural engineering redefines how performance is created in aluminum.

LEGACY OF INNOVATION

The Precedent: Solid-State Breakthrough

Friction Stir Welding, developed by The Welding Institute in Cambridge, UK (1991), demonstrated that solid-state deformation could fundamentally change aluminum performance.

It enabled high-integrity aerospace structures, improved weld strength without melting but mixing, and opened applications previously considered unachievable.

Shear extrusion builds on this principle—applying solid-state deformation not just to joining, but to forming.

Why Extrusion Has Been Stuck

A Process Unchanged for Over a Century

Conventional extrusion relies on uniaxial force pushing material through a die with limited shear deformation. As a result, microstructure is inherited from casting, defects are only partially corrected, alloys are constrained by chemistry limits, and natural weld seams remain structural weaknesses. The industry has optimized within these constraints—but not moved beyond them.

Shear Extrusion

Shear Deformation Changes the Physics

Atomic13 introduces intense shear deformation during extrusion, fundamentally altering how material flows and forms. This allows grain refinement, fragmentation of intermetallic phases, reduction of segregation, and uniform edge-to-core microstructure. Performance is engineered during deformation—not inherited from upstream processes.

Value of Progress

What This Enables

Unparalleled uniformity in properties and dimensions from end to end and through the thickness of the mill finish extrusion
Unrivaled levels of strength in structural alloys that push the limits of lightweighting to new heights
Weld seams approaching parent material strength
Simultaneous strength and ductility improvements
Consistent microstructure across complex profiles
Ability to utilize heterogeneous, lower quality scrap inputs which generate superior results
A disconnect from the standard aluminum market pricing indices (MWP and LME)
A zero-carbon footprint related to raw materials due to use of 100% post-consumer scrap – 0% prime (smelted) inputs

Hollow profiles with strong natural welds

Consistent, uniform microstructure

System Integration

From Process
to System

Casting, deformation, quenching, aging, and die design operate as an integrated system—coordinated through data and optimized in real time using data that continuously improves the process and product with limited human intervention.