Understanding the benefits
Our Research and Development team has more than 225 combined years of experience in solving technical problems. We are collaborating with leading research universities to expand creative reach and our analytical toolbox. Our experts routinely collaborate on peer-reviewed publications and technical conference presentations to share, validate, and expand research findings.
We offer a broad range of customized product offerings that include alloy design, tailored properties, unique forms, shapes, or sizes. We offer integrated manufacturing capabilities to drive effectively from concept iteration to performance realization at speed. Our materials experts can perform the following custom research and development services for you:
- Custom alloy development (melt to wire)
- Various melt modalities
- Custom alloy and/or composite development
- Optimization of existing materials
- Advanced wire processing techniques to push property performance boundaries
- Custom DFT® wire
- New cross-sectional shapes
- Access to new alloys developed by the Fort Wayne Metals R&D team, including:
- Absorbable magnesium alloys
- Absorbable magnesium rod and wire technology development
- High strength superelastic Nitinol
- High temperature shape memory Nitinol
- Nickel-free superelastic titanium
- Shape memory and superelastic technology development
- Ultra strength tungsten
- Absorbable magnesium alloys
Products of innovation
Combining our research, capabilities, and deep understanding of your needs has led us to many advances.
- 35N LT® wire a microstructurally refined version of the industry standard MP35N® alloy, it provides an excellent combination of strength, fatigue resistance, and corrosion resistance. It has a legacy of use in implantable high-fatigue applications.
- DFT® wire a monofilament construct that incorporates wire of two or more dissimilar materials that leverages, for example, the strength and corrosion resistance of a sheath material with properties such as conductivity and radiopacity of the core material(s).
- Grooved wire helically grooved wire that possesses a combination of strength, straightness, and dimensional consistency that opens the door to new opportunities for applications.
- Helical Turkshead Nitinol wire for low friction push, pull, and rotation driven delivery system components.
- NDR® wire nanocrystalline grain refinement for improved fatigue life without change to the chemistry of the material.
- SLT® wire straight wire directly off the spool that eliminates straightening process steps and reduces machine downtime without sacrificing performance.
Melting capabilities
Our Research and Development team has extensive experience melting and sourcing custom alloy ingots and converting them to wire and bar products for testing and early production. We are happy to offer our expertise and capabilities as a service to you.
Our in-house Vacuum Induction Melt (VIM) furnace is capable across many alloys and can produce ingots from 1.27 cm to 5.08 cm and up to 30.48 cm [0.5 in to 2 in diameter and up to 12 in] long with prototype masses ranging from about 100 g [0.22046 lbs] up to 5-10 kg [11.023 lbs to 22.046 lbs]. Once melted, we can use our suite of hot and cold metalworking processes to refine the material and produce subcomponents, including bar, wire, and sheet, to your specifications.
Candidate alloy families and materials offered:
We have extensive experience in a wide variety of alloy families, including those common to the medical device industry. If you don’t see your desired material on the list, don’t be afraid to ask.
- Aluminum
- Cobalt
- Cobalt-Chromium
- Iron
- Magnesium
- Nickel
- Nitinol
- Stainless Steel
- Titanium
- Zinc
We know that for many applications, time is of the essence. Price and lead times will be influenced by available materials and testing requirements. With readily available elements and tooling, lead times could be as short as 2 weeks, or range upwards of 12 weeks for alloys requiring new elements, additional subcomponent production, or testing.
Whether it's a next-generation device, a cutting-edge application, or a groundbreaking project, our Research and Development team is ready to partner with you. If you're ready to push the boundaries of what's possible, please fill out the form below and we'll be in touch.
R&D updates
The Research and Development team is passionate about developing material science. Learn more about the innovative projects the team is undertaking to help improve lives everywhere.
Contact us
We know that for many applications, time is of the essence. Price and lead times will be influenced by available materials and testing requirements. With readily available elements and tooling, lead times could be as short as 2 weeks, or range upwards of 12 weeks for alloys requiring new elements or additional subcomponent production and testing.
Whether it's a next-generation device, a cutting-edge application, or a groundbreaking project, our Research and Development team is ready to partner with you. If you're ready to push the boundaries of what's possible, please fill out the form below and we'll be in touch.
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