Producing metallic articles by reduction of nonmetallic precursor compounds and melting
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsAndrew P. Woodfield, Clifford E. Shamblen, Eric A. Ott
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A metallic article is produced by furnishing one or more nonmetallic precursor compound comprising the metallic constituent element(s), and chemically reducing the nonmetallic precursor compound(s) to produce an initial metallic particle, preferably having a size of no greater than about 0.070 inch, without melting the initial metallic particle. The initial metallic particle is thereafter melted and solidified to produce the metallic article. By this approach, the incidence of chemical defects in the metal article is minimized. The melted-and-solidified metal may be used in the as-cast form, or it may be converted to billet and further worked to the final form.
Claims20
A method for producing a metallic cast article comprising metallic constituent elements comprising the step of
- melting and solidifying a plurality of initial metallic alloy particles together to form a cast article;
- wherein the initial metallic alloy particles were produced by a process which included chemically reducing a nonmetallic precursor compound of the metallic constituent elements to produce the initial metallic alloy particles without melting the initial metallic alloy particles.
A method for producing a metallic cast ingot comprising metallic constituent elements comprising steps:
- (a) compacting a plurality of initial metallic alloy particles;
- and
- (b) melting and solidifying the plurality of initial metallic alloy particles compacted in (a) to form a cast ingot;
- wherein the initial metallic alloy particles were produced by a process which included chemically reducing a nonmetallic precursor compound of the metallic constituent elements to produce the initial metallic alloy particles without melting the initial metallic alloy particles.
A method for producing a metallic cast ingot comprising metallic constituent elements comprising the step of
- melting and solidifying a compacted plurality of initial metallic alloy particles to form a cast ingot;
- wherein the compacted initial metallic alloy particles were produced by a process which included chemically reducing a nonmetallic precursor compound of the metallic constituent elements to produce the initial metallic alloy particles without melting the initial metallic alloy particles and which further included compacting a plurality of the initial metallic alloy particles.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.