Advances in PM-Niobium Products

摘要

P/M Nb products have been developed and are being used in several applications where resistance to grain growth and increased strength are required, above what can be produced from I/M Nb. A metallurgical grade Niobium powder has been developed that allows primary consolidation via extrusion or HIP process, where batch sizes can be 200 Kgs and more. Consolidation via pressing and sintering can be chosen as well, depending on requirements of the desired parts. The P/M process also offers the opportunity to use dopants to increase strength and for stabilization of grain size for high temperature uses. The Properties of Nb P/M products in comparison to Nb I/M offer significantly higher strength, Sheet:(ca. 345 Mpa annealed, ca. 690 Mpa unannealed), Wire: (ca. 1200 Mpa for P/M vs. ca. 560 Mpa for I/M), significantly smaller grain size and an excellent resistance to grain growth at high temperatures. Some current applications are furnace parts, sinter trays, wire annealing bands, and wire for EDMing.