US 11,077,497 B2Granted

Deoxidation of metal powders

AssigneeGlobal Titanium Inc.

InventorsCharles A. Motchenbacher, Robert L. Swenson, Jesse Z. Oliver

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Abstract

Systems, methods, and compositions disclosed herein provide for low-oxygen metal powders. These metal powders, such as very-fine powders and spherical powders of titanium and titanium alloys, can be effectively deoxidized through use of vapor deoxidation without requiring the powder to undergo re-sizing or re-shaping subsequent to the deoxidation. Systems, methods, and compositions in accordance with the present disclosure can produce low-cost, low-oxygen, metal powders, such as very-fine powders and spherical powders of, for example, titanium and titanium alloys. Moreover, systems, methods, and compositions in accordance with the present disclosure can provide for reducing the number of processes or cost of processes required to produce these low-oxygen metal powders.

Claims17

Dependent claims

A method comprising:

obtaining a high-oxygen very-fine powder including titanium;
adding an amount of deoxidant to the high-oxygen very-fine powder to thereby produce a powder blend;
applying a vacuum to the powder blend;
heating the powder blend to a predetermined temperature sufficient to at least partially vaporize the deoxidant at a pressure of the vacuum to produce a vaporized deoxidant;
vapor deoxidizing the high-oxygen very-fine powder using the vaporized deoxidant to produce a low-oxygen very-fine powder and an oxidized deoxidant;
wherein the low-oxygen very-fine powder has an oxygen content less than the high-oxygen very-fine powder;
maintaining the powder blend at the predetermined temperature for a predetermined time to produce a very-fine-powder cake, the very-fine-powder cake including the low-oxygen very-fine powder and the oxidized deoxidant, the low-oxygen very-fine powder including the titanium, the predetermined time being sufficient to convert the high-oxygen very-fine powder to the low-oxygen very-fine powder;
milling the very-fine-powder cake to produce a low-oxygen very-fine-powder blend;
and
removing the oxidized deoxidant from the low-oxygen very-fine-powder blend to thereby produce the low-oxygen very-fine powder.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 15/852,211Filed 22 Dec 2017 · us provisional application
Priority: 7 Jun 2017
Published: US 2018/0354032 A113 Dec 2018
Granted: 3 Aug 2021
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification14 codes

B22F 9/04
Using physical processes: starting from solid material, e.g. by crushing, grinding or milling
B22F 1/065
Metallic powder characterised by the shape of the particles: spherical particles
B22F 1/145
Treatment of metallic powder: chemical treatment, e.g. passivation or decarburisation
B33Y 70/00
Materials specially adapted for additive manufacturing

Family

Application62/516,623Us provisional application · filed 7 Jun 2017
US 2018/0354032 A1Pre-grant publication · published 13 Dec 2018
US 11,077,497 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

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