Macro-chip reinforced alloy
Described herein is a powder blend comprising a first component comprising a blend of a first metal particle and a first ceramic particle; and a second component comprising a reinforcing chip, the reinforcing chip comprising a second ceramic particle dispersed within a chip metal matrix.
1. A powder blend comprising:
a first component comprising a blend of:
a first metal particle present in an amount ranging from about 80 wt. % to about 99 wt. % based on the total weight of the first component; and
a first ceramic particle comprising boron carbide; and
a second component comprising a reinforcing chip, the reinforcing chip comprising a second ceramic particle formed of boron carbide dispersed within a chip metal matrix, the second ceramic particle and the chip metal matrix being present in a weight ratio ranging from about 1:7 to about 1:15;
wherein the reinforcing chip has a length to width aspect ratio ranging from about 1:3 to about 1:1.25 and a length to thickness aspect ratio ranging from about 4:1 to about 14:1;
wherein the first component is present in an amount ranging from about 65 wt. % to less than 100 wt. % based on the total weight of the powder blend and the second component is present in an amount ranging from a non-zero amount up to about 35 wt. % based on the total weight of the powder blend.
2. The powder blend according to claim 1 , wherein the first ceramic particle and the second ceramic particle are formed from the same material.
3. The powder blend according to claim 1 , wherein the first ceramic particle and the second ceramic particle are formed from different materials.
4. The powder blend according to claim 1 , wherein the first metal particle and the chip metal matrix are formed from the same material.
5. The powder blend according to claim 1 , wherein the first metal particle and the chip metal matrix are formed from different materials.
6. The powder blend according to claim 1 , wherein the first metal particle and the chip metal matrix are each independently selected from the group consisting of pure aluminum, an aluminum alloy, steel, a nickel alloy, a titanium alloy, and combinations thereof.
7. The powder blend according to claim 1 , wherein the first ceramic particle and the second ceramic particle each have a particle distribution of 100% less than about 250 μm.
8. The powder blend according to claim 1 , wherein the first metal particle has a d50 ranging from about 1 μm to about 20 μm.
9. The powder blend according to claim 1 , wherein the first metal particle is an aluminum particle and has a natural oxide formation layer having a thickness ranging from about 3 nm to about 7 nm.
10. The powder blend according to claim 1 , wherein the first ceramic particle and the first metal particle are present in a weight ratio ranging from about 1:15 to about 1:7.
11. The powder blend according to claim 1 , wherein the reinforcing chip is a recycled material.