Welcome to Metalock of Australia Pty. Ltd.

Our group of companies offers a diverse product/ service capacity, ranging from the traditional Metalock repairs and machining, through to specialised diesel reconditioning service and spray painting/coating technology divisions - which can be accessed through www.metsce.com.

We Offer Casting Repairs, On-Site Machining, Specialized Welding, Engineering, Jobbing Manufacturing

As a founding member of the Metalock International Association we strive to provide the highest cost effective/problem solving ability through utilisation of leading edge technology and training. Our ability to create innovative solutions and see them through in a timely and responsive manner is your "key to service"

The Metalock process is a unique cold engineering method of repairing fractures or damage to all types of castings. It is particularly suitable for cast iron/steel as these materials are difficult, risky and costly to repair via traditional welding methods.

History of Metalock

Metalock originated in the oil fields of Texas in the mid 1930's to overcome the explosive potential of welding repairs. Therefore a system was developed which eliminated heat, and had many ancillary advantages, including the elimination of distortion, which in turn obviated the necessity of re-machining in the great majority of cases. Subsequent development by the U.S.A. defence forces during World War II were responsible for the spread of this technology and its acceptance in the heavy industries, especially marine.

Further development in the 1950's led to the establishment of the Metalock International Association, of which Metalock of Australia was a founding member. The Association has now grown into a unique organisation operating in 80 countries throughout the world. Conferences are held once a year in various parts of the world, and these enable members to update techniques and extend the services offered. With this economy of scale, the research and development costs, marketing and promotion are off-set through all of the Metalock member companies.

What is Metalock?

Technically the Metalock method is very simple. A crack in a cast iron component is locked using a key which takes up both tensile and compressive stresses. Screws called are driven in along the crack in order to take up shear stresses.

During the repair the metal actually "flows" with the hammers to fill the whole of the aperture which compensates for the slight imperfections due to drilling. The keys are very accurately formed to ensure a very good fit in the apertures.

It is possible to determine the tensile strength lost when a casting is fractured and we are able to accurately calculate the amount of strength restored by the Metalock keys.

The apertures for the keys are prepared at set centers and at right angles to and across the line of the fracture to the exact female form of the Metalock keys. The accuracy of this work relies mainly on the experience and craftsmanship of the Metalock engineer although he does make use of certain jigs and fixtures.

Material Used In Metalock Process

The material used in the Metalock process is a corrosion resistant Nickel Alloy. The advantages this material has is its ductility in the annealed condition, giving reasonable tensile strength when work hardened, a low rate of strain hardening and a very low coefficient of thermal expansion, similar to cast iron.

Variations Of The Metalock Process

Masterlocks are often used in conjunction with the Metalock process, in points of high stress concentration or in sections subject to overloading and subsequent fracture. They are comprised of inlays of high strength alloy plate held in place by dowels, cold worked into matching half holes between the parent material and the alloy plate. The Masterlocks vary in size, shape and even material, dependant upon requirements of each repair.