Granted Patent B2

US 7,666,243 · App. 10/974,519 · Granted Feb 23, 2010

Abstract

Claims (18)

1. A method of making a silicon-containing alloy of niobium comprising:

A) forming a blend comprising niobium powder and silicon powder and pressing the blend to form pressed blend;

B) attaching the pressed blend to an electrode comprising niobium

C) melting the electrode and pressed blend under vacuum arc remelting conditions, such that the blend mixes with the melted electrode;

D) cooling the melted electrode to form an alloy ingot; and

E) applying thermo-mechanical processing steps to the alloy ingot to form a wrought product:

wherein the thermo-mechanical processing comprises:

i) forging the alloy ingot to form a wrought product; and

ii) annealing the wrought product at a temperature of from 950 to 1150° C.; and wherein the annealing results in at least 75% recrystallization.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the wrought product in E) has a fine and uniform ASTM grain size of from 5 to 10.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the silicon is present in A) at from 0.1 to 100 ppm based on total niobium in the wrought product.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the wrought product is selected from the group consisting of foils, sheets, plates, tubes, and rods.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the thermo-mechanical processing steps in E) comprise:

I) rolling the wrought product to an intermediate thickness;

II) annealing the wrought product of I) at a temperature of from 950 to 1150° C. for a period of from 30 minutes to 180 minutes;

III) rolling the wrought product of II); and

IV) annealing the wrought product of III) at a temperature of from 950 to 1150° C. for a period of from 30 minutes to 180 minutes and then cooling the wrought product to room temperature.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the wrought product is selected from the group consisting of foils, sheets, plates, tubes, and rods.

Assignments (14)