Affordable High Strength Mo-Si-B Alloys for High Temperature Applications

Mo-Si-B alloys are being considered as possible candidates for high temperature applications such as next generation jet engine blades because of its excellent oxidation resistance and mechanical properties which are much superior to Ni-based super alloys. Navy is looking for cost effective mature Mo-Si-B material production technology for its aerospace applications. In Phase I, Aspen Systems plans to explore cost effective unique processing approaches to develop Mo-Si-B material to a full density with excellent properties. During Phase I, Aspen will formulate and produce a moderate quantity of Mo-Si-B alloy powder by special kind of spray drying technique which has the ability to form particles with a more narrow size distribution when compared to traditional spray drying techniques. The spray-dryed particles will be analyzed for particle size, morphology, composition and thermal stability. These Mo-Si-B alloy premixed powders will be subsequently heat treated(sintering)under protective atmosphere to obtain the desired Mo-Si-B alloy. The sintered material will be further extruded using special extrusion technique with very high strain rate so that fine grained and uniform structure is developed. Properties evaluation including tensile, creep and oxidation of the materials will also be performed during Phase I study. During Phase II program, we will scale-up this process to develop and demonstrate this successful cost effective technology for mass production with proven optimized process parameters based on Phase I data.