Precision gap compensation and load transfer for
structural steel, industrial equipment, wind energy, bridges, and bolted connections.
Kubri Engineered Solutions (KES) is the Australian technical partner for DIAMANT Polymer GmbH, manufacturer of MM1018 The Liquid Shim®. We supply MM1018 across Australia and support the structural engineers, fabricators, contractors, and EPCs who specify and install it, with engineering support from design through to documentation.
In structural steel, industrial equipment, bridge construction, and bolted joints, two surfaces must transfer load. In practice, the as-built gap between them is seldom what the design specified, due to the following:
1. Concrete shrinkage and warping during cure
2. Steel baseplate distortion from welding and transport
3. Holding-down bolt drift off centreline
4. Bolt holes drilled oversize for field tolerance
5. Misaligned tower flange bolt holes
6. Uneven bridge bearing pedestals
Conventional responses compensate for the gap, but each method carries its own trade-off:
Cementitious grout: shrinks and settles during cure, leaving voids beneath the baseplate
Dry-pack mortar: highly variable, dependent on installer technique
Steel shims: transfer load through point contact and loosen under vibration
Plastic packers: not rated for permanent structural load
Machined-fitted bolts: resolve hole clearance, but at high cost and project delay
Liquid shim technology removes this trade-off.
DIAMANT MM1018 The Liquid Shim® is poured or injected into the gap in liquid form. It flows to fill 100% of the void and cures in place without shrinkage or the variability of manual placement. The result is a dimensionally stable, full-surface, force-fit contact layer, bonded to both surfaces, that carries compressive load across the entire interface
MM1018 The Liquid Shim® is a two-component, highly-filled metal polymer manufactured in Germany by DIAMANT Polymer GmbH. Component A (resin) and Component B (hardener) are mixed on site and applied within the pot life window.
Cast or inject. Self-levels into horizontal gaps. Used on column baseplates, equipment foundations, bridge bearings, tower flanges, and bolted joint injection. Packs: 0.5 kg, 1 kg, 1.5 kg, 4.5 kg, special sizes on request.
Stiffer, trowel-applied consistency. Stays in place on vertical and overhead surfaces. Used to build up a surface before a mating component is seated.
Pre-mixed, cartridge-dispensed. Faster, controlled application for smaller gaps and vertical work.
A complete installation system supports all three variants: MM1018 SEAL (#2108) for gap sealing, EP-Flow epoxy resin grouting mortar for concrete interfaces, screw protection, separator spray, injection packers, cartridges, shut-off valves, and specialist injection hardware.
| Property | MM1018 FL value | Test standard |
|---|---|---|
| Compressive strength (fully cured, 21°C, 7 days) | 161 N/mm² | DIN EN 12190:1998 |
| Compressive strength (24 hours at 21°C) | 156 N/mm² | DIN EN 12190:1998 |
| Compressive strength (24 hours at 30°C) | 166 N/mm² | DIN EN 12190:1998 |
| E-modulus | 10,000 N/mm² | DIN EN 13412:2006 |
| Shrinkage | 0.035% | DIN EN 12617-4:2002 |
| Hardness (Shore D) | 89 | - |
| Density (cured) | 2.66 g/cm³ | - |
| Creep coefficient | 1.1 | DIN EN ISO 13584:2003-11 |
| Friction coefficient (µect) | 0.46 | DIN EN 1090-2 Attachment G |
| Service temperature (per abZ) | -20°C to +50°C | abZ Z-3.82-2042 |
| Temperature resistance (material) | Tested internally to 160°C | - |
| Viscosity | 16,900 mPas | DIN EN ISO 3219:1994 |
| Pot life at 10°C (1 kg batch) | 110 minutes | - |
| Pot life at 20°C (1 kg batch) | 55 minutes | - |
| Pot life at 30°C (1 kg batch) | 30 minutes | - |
| Maximum layer thickness (manufacturer-tested) | Up to 140 mm | - |
| Maximum layer thickness (abZ-approved) | Up to 10 mm per layer | abZ Z-3.82-2042 |
| Fatigue performance | 10,000,000 cycles, no degradation | ibac RWTH Aachen, test M1999 |
| Loss of pre-tensioning force (50 years) | ~10% | Log. extrapolation, restrained |
| Shelf life | 2 years (unopened, 5-20°C) | - |
Compressive strength, E-modulus, shrinkage, hardness, density, creep, friction, viscosity, pot life, layer thickness (manufacturer-tested), and fatigue figures are sourced from the official DIAMANT MM1018 FL Technical Datasheet (#1866, Version 1.1, 2026). For the complete dataset, including curing temperature curves and full application guidance, download the datasheet below.
New South Wales, Australia
On this bridge over the Lachlan River, newly installed bearings were found to be out of full contact at joint inspection. Rather than full bearing replacement, the bridge was lightly jacked to create a continuous gap, MM1018 was injected and cured, and the jacks were then released, restoring full-area load transfer while retaining the existing laminated elastomeric bearings.
Lisbon, Portugal
Replacement of 500 bearings on one of Europe's major suspension bridges, a live-traffic structure carrying road and rail load. MM1018 FL specified for full-surface contact under continuous cyclic traffic load across a 100-year design life.
Jammu & Kashmir, India
The world's highest railway bridge, 359 metres above the Chenab River. MM1018 specified for bearing installation on a structure designed to carry cyclic rail load in a seismically active mountain environment.
Gardelegen, Germany
Gap levelling at tower flange connections on a hybrid concrete-steel wind turbine tower. MM1018 delivered 100% force-fit and form-fit contact at flange bolt interfaces operating under continuous fatigue load.
Eastern Cape, South Africa
Structural polymer injection during construction of a major cable-stayed bridge. MM1018 used for void filling and structural crack injection.
Burns Harbour, USA
Refurbishment of a 55-year-old stacker and reloader and heavy industrial equipment re-grouting on a major steel-processing facility. MM1018 applied to crane runway rails and mill stand foundations.
| Method | Shrinkage | Third-party fatigue cert. |
Full surface contact |
Cure time to full load |
Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MM1018 Liquid Shim | 0.035% (DIN EN 12617-4) | 10M cycles - ibac RWTH Aachen (M1999) | 100% void fill, bonded to both surfaces | Reaches 97% or more of design strength at 24 hours (+21°C) and full design strength at 7 days. | |
| Cementitious Grout | Hardened-stage drying shrinkage and settlement occur | Not identified in published Australian-market datasheets | Installation-dependent; bleed water and settlement create voids | 3-7 days | View comparison |
| Epoxy Grout | Minimal shrinkage | No published third-party certification at 10M cycles identified | Depends on mix and placement | 24-72 hours (product-dependent) | View comparison |
| Steel Shim Plates | N/A | No fatigue certification identified | Point contact only; gap remains partially unfilled | Immediate (mechanical) | View comparison |
| Plastic Packers | N/A | Temporary, not rated for permanent structural load | Partial contact only | Immediate (mechanical) | View comparison |
| Dry-Pack Mortar | Variable, operator-dependent | No fatigue certification identified | Highly variable, placement-dependent | 3-7 days | View comparison |
| Machined Fitted Bolts | N/A | Addresses shear only, not gap compensation | Full contact in shear, not gap fill | Project-dependent | View comparison |
Competitor figures are representative of category-leading products as published in manufacturer datasheets. Full citations are available on each comparison page.
Enter your project details to calculate the required volume.
MM1018 is usually sold as a catalogue item, one SKU among hundreds at a generalist distributor, with no engineering support behind it. KES operates differently.
Kubri Engineered Solutions is Australia’s dedicated technical authority for liquid shim technology and the Australian partner for DIAMANT Polymer GmbH, manufacturer of MM1018 The Liquid Shim®. KES holds exclusive technical partnerships with globally recognised manufacturers, including Maurer (expansion joints, structural bearings), Panacor (noise barriers, fire protection walls), and EarthTec (reinforced retaining walls).
KES supports every specification with a complete engineering support package:
Design Support:
Interface review and product-variant selection (FL, P, or Smart S) matched to the gap geometry and load case. We resolve the correct specification before steel is fabricated.
Installation Methodology:
Project-specific method statements, ITP clauses, QA hold points, and on-site first-of-type attendance where required. The method is engineered, not improvised.
Interface Control:
Selection across the full MM1018 product family: FL, P, Smart S, MM1018 SEAL, EP-Flow, and the complete DIAMANT injection hardware system, matched to gap geometry and project constraints.
Documentation:
Material certification, batch traceability, abZ approval documentation, ibac fatigue test report, and installation records formatted for ITP, project handover, and asset register.
Founded by Loai Shokry, a Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng) with a career spanning the design and delivery of multi-billion-dollar infrastructure projects in Australia and worldwide, Kubri Engineered Solutions is a specification and engineering partner, not a product distributor.
Working on a structural interface that needs precision gap compensation? Send us the details and a KES engineer will respond within one business day with product selection and the next steps on installation methodology.
Liquid shim is a two-component polymer gap-compensation material poured or injected into the gap between two structural surfaces (typically steel-to-concrete or steel-to-steel), where it cures in place to form a dimensionally stable, full-surface, load-bearing layer.
Epoxy grouts are general-purpose levelling and bedding compounds, and MM1018 is a highly filled metal polymer purpose-built for load-bearing gap compensation, with a published fatigue certification (10 million cycles, ibac RWTH Aachen) that conventional epoxy grout products have not published.
In practice, that means MM1018 is specified wherever the load is cyclic, while general epoxy grout remains suitable for static, non-fatigue applications.
Yes. MM1018 is designed and internationally specified for rotating equipment foundations, including pumps, generators, compressors, turbines, crushers, and mills. Its 10 million-cycle fatigue certification (ibac RWTH Aachen, test M1999) is directly relevant to the sustained cyclic loads generated by rotating and reciprocating machinery.
MM1018 FL holds German general building authority approval (abZ Z-3.82-2042), issued by DIBt (Deutsches Institut für Bautechnik), together with independent compressive strength testing (DIN EN 12190:1998) and fatigue testing to 10 million load cycles (ibac RWTH Aachen, test M1999).
Send KES the interface details through the project submission form. A KES engineer will review the interface, confirm the correct MM1018 variant, and, where useful, provide a written review of the interface condition and supporting certification.