Low oxygen refractory metal powder for powder metallurgy
OwnerPrabhat Kumarinventor
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Abstract
One step process for producing formed Ta/Nb powder metallurgy products using Ta and/or Nb hydride powders with an oxygen content greater than a target level, e.g., 300 ppm, heating the metal hydride in the presence of another metal having a higher affinity for oxygen, removing the other metal and any reaction byproducts, to form a metal powder with an oxygen content less than the target level and forming a metallurgical product from said oxygen reduced Ta/Nb powder with an oxygen content less than the target level.
Claims15
A process for producing metal powders suitable for forming into mill products or fabricated parts by powder metallurgy, comprising the steps of:
- providing a minus 100 mesh hydride powder of a first metal, said first metal being selected from the group consisting of tantalum, niobium, and alloys of said metals with each other or one or both of them with other metals,
- heating said hydride of the first metal in the presence of a metal having a higher affinity for oxygen than first metal's affinity to remove hydrogen and oxygen in a single heating cycle,
- then removing the metal having a higher affinity for oxygen from the metal,
- to form a powder of the first metal with oxygen content less than 300 ppm.
A process for producing formed powder metallurgy products comprising the steps of:
- providing a hydride powder of a first metal, which is substantially a refractory metal having an oxygen content greater than a target level,
- heating said hydride of the first metal in the presence of a metal having a higher affinity for oxygen than the hydride to remove hydrogen and oxygen in a single heating cycle,
- removing the metal having a higher affinity for oxygen from the first metal, to form a metal powder with an oxygen content less than the target level, and
- forming a metallurgical product from said metal powder with oxygen.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.