Melt process for the production of metal-matrix composite materials with enhanced particle/matrix wetting
US5028392A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 14, 1990 |
| Grant date | Jul 2, 1991 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 14, 2010 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T428/12486
- WIPO fieldMaterials, metallurgy
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
A metal matrix composite material containing discontinuous particles in a metallic matrix is prepared by forming a mixture of the molten alloy and the particles in a closed reactor, removing oxygen from the interior of the reactor, statically pressurizing the interior of the reactor with nitrogen gas, mixing the mixture of the molten alloy and particles in the presence of the static nitrogen gas to wet the molten matrix to the particles, and evacuating the interior of the reactor in a stepwise manner. The nitrogen gas aids in wetting the metallic alloy to the particles by forming aluminum nitride at the particle-molten matrix interface, so that a lower contact angle of the alloy to the particle results. Oxygen that may be present in the sealed reactor is gettered by the aluminum, and the nitrogen is removed by stepwise evacuation, thereby minimizing the introduction of gas into, and retention of gas within, the melt.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.