Aluminum based composite powders and process for producing same

A process for producing composite powder particles consisting essentially of a matrix phase and a reinforcement phase, said process comprising:

• (a) entraining in a carrier gas a plurality of agglomerated powders with at least one of said powders supplying aluminum, at least one of said powders supplying titanium without boron and at least one of said powders supplying boron without titanium;
• (b) feeding said powders through a high temperature zone to cause essentially complete melting and coalescence of said powders wherein at least a part of said titanium and at least a part of said boron combine to form titanium diboride;
• and
• (c) resolidifying the resulting high temperature treated powder particles to form said composite powder wherein said matrix phase is selected from the group consisting of aluminum and aluminum based alloys and said reinforcement phase comprises titanium diboride.

A process for producing a composite material consisting essentially of a matrix phase and a reinforcement phase, said process comprising:

• (a) entraining in a carrier gas a plurality of agglomerated powders with at least one of said powders supplying aluminum, at least one of said powders supplying titanium without boron and at least one of said powders supplying boron without titanium;
• (b) feeding said powders through a high temperature zone to cause essentially complete melting and coalescence of said powders wherein at least a part of said titanium and at least a part of said boron combine to form titanium diboride;
• and
• (c) resolidifying the resulting high temperature treated powder particles to form said composite material wherein said matrix phase is selected from the group consisting of aluminum and aluminum based alloys and said reinforcement phase comprises titanium diboride, said resolidification being done by impacting the resulting high temperature treated particles against a surface having a temperature below the solidification temperature of said matrix phase.