Putting the 'PRO' into the professional,
progressive and proactive production
of
high-performance and sustainable materials
that
make peoples' lives richer
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From nano-sized micromaterials and ultra-compact components to large heat-resistant and durable parts──
Proterial products and technologies support the foundations of our lives, from every corner of our daily life to sites of industry.
From cars to airplanes to smartphones to city infrastructure, they enable a collaborative customer journey that creates completely new and unique value that has the power to shape the future everywhere.
PRO + MATERIAL STORY
By continuing to meet the needs of world-class customers, we have made the development and mass production of high-performance, high-quality products a reality
PRO + MATERIAL STORY
The DNA of an experimentation first approach and the passion of developers led to the development of a world first
To make the most out of our
structural and compositional control technologies that effectively utilize the characteristics of metals and our
strong relationships with our customers, Proterial has been providing products and
services with high quality and functionality. We will contribute
to solving customer issues by facing them head-on, creating
optimal materials, bringing them up to mass production levels and
providing them to our customers.
Through this collaborative
creation, we will provide customers with new possibilities and a
competitive edge. We will also continue to take on the challenge
of providing ever greater value by driving insights and variations
in the materials we have acquired through this process. Proterial
will continue to support a sustainable society through our highly
functional materials.
By continuing this cycle of collaborative creation with our
customers,
we are empowered to create new value and shape the
future everywhere.
xEVs
+
Smartphones
+
Aircraft
+
Power Generation
and Distribution
Hydrogenrelated
facilities
PRO + MATERIALSTORY
In response to the high levels of quality required by our customers, Proterial has been working on the creation of materials up to their stable mass production, and which are then deployed to new applications and new market domains. For example, we developed a high fatigue strength material for continuous variable transmission (CVT) belts used in automobile engines that can withstand more than 10 million rotations by massively detoxifying impurities in the metals and controlling the structure. With this technology, we boast the world's top share in CVT belt materials. At the very beginning of this process, we had both trust and high expectations from our customers.
CVT belt materials
In the automobile domain, we have built strong collaborative
relationships with Japanese automobile manufacturers through
the development of highly complex specialty materials used
under harsh environments such as forged materials for engine
valves. Since the 1990s, we have conducted development of
technologies designed to constrain the growth of nitrides
contained in metals (TiN) in order to improve strength and
durability using our structural and compositional control
technologies for the energy domain. A Japanese automobile
manufacturer who was impressed with our material development
capabilities approached us about whether we could engineer a
CVT belt material with a refined TiN grain, which triggered
this development.
To handle the harsh usage environment
of automobiles, fatigue strength that can withstand more
than 10 million rotations is required. To achieve this, we
needed to reduce material surface defects, and also control
the structure to ensure that the inside of the metal is
devoid of contaminants. It took three years for our TiN
miniaturization technology to achieve the extremely
challenging demands of our customers. We identified a
mechanism to determine the TiN grain size and achieved
stable mass production through quality control that actively
utilized magnesium. This technology has rapidly increased
demand for CVT belt materials and is used by many automobile
manufacturers.
CVT belt material structure
This TiN miniaturization technology is expanding in new
ways, including applications in what is dubbed the technical
pinnacle for metals, aircraft-related materials. As a
material for aircraft jet engine shafts, we have achieved
stable control of fatigue strength under the harsh
conditions of high temperatures and pressures different from
those of automobiles, and have advanced into new market
areas. These are the fruits of the relationship of trust
that we have built by constantly working with our customers
and continuing to take on the challenge of new
technologies.
We will continue to work with our
customers to achieve sustainable growth by developing
technologies that contribute to solutions for their
challenges.
Aircraft engine
PRO + MATERIALSTORY
In 1988, we launched FINEMET®, the world's first nanocrystalline soft magnetic material. The material is thin and ribboned with a unique nanocrystalline (about 10 nm) structure comprised mainly of iron, with additives of silicon, boron, and trace amounts of copper and niobium. When an amorphous (lacking crystalline structure) alloy, created by rapidly quenching a high-temperature molten material, was heat treated under certain conditions, we discovered a ground-breaking phenomenon. It became a material with better magnetic properties that those of amorphous alloys, and so we created the first product of its kind in the world. FINEMET® has led to significant progress in making smartphones and numerous other electronic devices more energy efficient and more compact.
Nano Magnetic Material FINEMET®
Structural and compositional control technologies and the passion of the researchers, were essential to development. Since the late 1970s, our laboratories have been developing new magnetic materials such as amorphous metals. The properties of magnetic materials are related to phenomena at the atomic level, and the composition of such materials is subject to tens of thousands of permutations. As a result, they are extremely difficult to develop, and it is said that practical application can be extremely challenging. However, through repeated and persistent experimentation, we discovered an amazing phenomenon in which the magnetic properties of amorphous alloys improved after undergoing heat treatment. This led to the acquisition of a patent and the establishment of a manufacturing method and, in 1988, FINEMET® was successfully commercialized. We were able to release it on the global market.
Manufacturing FINEMET
FINEMET Common-mode choke cores/coils
When it was first released as a product, its characteristics
were overwhelmingly superior, but as it was so ahead of its
time, it was not widely adopted. But in the 2000s, the
tightening of regulations on electromagnetic noise and the
proliferation of wireless charging for smartphones
skyrocketed demand for FINEMET®. In Europe, the spread of
electric vehicles (xEVs) has led to increased use of
FINEMET® as a measure against electromagnetic noise, and
demand for the product has grown exponentially.
Although it took some ten years for the applications needed to catch up, FINEMET® has at last become an indispensable material for an electrified society. Furthermore, due to the low core loss, it has been used in many areas that demand energy savings and low noise. FINEMET® is pursuing energy efficiency, weight reduction, and high performance in order to make a decarbonized society a reality. It is expected to play an important role in the next generation of electronics and power systems.
In
the future, we at Proterial will continue our efforts to
achieve a sustainable society by utilizing revolutionary
material technologies such as FINEMET®.
Magnetic shield
High-performance materials play an important role in improving xEV performance and making them more energy efficient. These materials support underlying technologies such as drive motors, on-board chargers and batteries, and contribute to sustainable mobility.
NEOMAX® rare-earth magnets
NMF™ ferrite magnets
Magnet wire
Metglas™ Amorphous Alloy
Silicon nitride substrates
SiC epitaxial wafers
FINEMET® nanocrystalline soft magnetic materials
Improved battery performance through the use of lightweight, compact and high-capacity cladding materials.
Clad metals
Our high-performance materials play a major role in achieving smartphones that are compact, lightweight, and power-efficient, while also being highly functional. These materials support heat dissipation, noise reduction, charging efficiency and size reduction, and help to improve the performance of your smartphone.
Metal materials such as stainless steel and copper provide high strength and high thermal conductivity.
Used as a heat sink to help with efficient heat dissipation.
Clad metals
Contributes to the efficiency of noise reduction and wireless charging functions.
Nanocrystalline soft magnetic material FINEMET®
Used for speakers and vibration motors to make smartphones smaller.
Rare-earth magnet NEOMAX®
The aircraft market is expected to grow significantly over the medium to long term, and advanced technologies and quality control are required to support its evolution. We have the latest equipment and technology to support this sector's needs, and we have the high levels of reliability to support the market.
Aircraft engine components
Aircraft engine components
Aircraft engine components
Proterial is the world's leading manufacturer of amorphous
alloys, which are metals that do not have a crystalline
structure.
These alloys are used in transformer and motor
cores to help reduce power consumption.
They are expected to have applications in high-efficiency motors and contribute to further levels of energy efficiency.
Metglas™ Amorphous Alloy
Reducing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions is drawing attention as an important issue in realizing a decarbonized society and, within this, there is focus on achieving a hydrogen society. We are working to provide solutions with products that support the making, storing and using of hydrogen-related equipment.
Hydrogen storage alloy
High-strength alloys/high-oxidation-resistant alloys
Improving reliability of materials in hydrogen usage environments
Hydrogen embrittlement-resistant materials
Corrosion-resistant, hydrogen embrittlement-resistant additive manufacturing material
Honeycomb-shaped catalyst for the methanation reaction (Under development)