ADVANCED POWER SYNTHESIS FOR IMPROVED HIGH TEMPERATURE LIGHTALLOYS

THIS PROJECT WILL DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF A UNIQUE NEW METHOD FOR PRODUCING DISPERSION-HARDENED ALLOYS. DISPERSED, STABLE, SECOND-PHASE PARTICLES HAVING A CONTROLLED MORPHOLOGY WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO MATRICES OF ALUMINUM AND TITANIUM ALLOYS. THIS WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED BY COATING EACH PARTICLE OF THE MATRIX POWDERS WITH TITANIUM DIBORIDE (TIB2) BY CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION (CVD), FOLLOWEDBY MILLING/GRINDING TO DISPERSE THE SECOND PHASE INTO THE PARTICLES. SUCCESSIVE COATING/MILLING STEPS WILL GUILD UP THE DESIRED VOLUME FRACTION OF DISPERSED SECOND PHASE (=20 PERCENT), FOLLOWED BY CONSOLIDATION. ADDITIONALLY, TIB2, REINFORCEMENT PARTICLES WILL BE COATED WITH TITANIUM AND ALUMINUM AND THEN CONSOLIDATED. THE COMBINATION OF CVD COATING AND MECHANICAL ALLOYING TO PROVIDE AN INTIMATE MIXTURE OF A DISPERSED SECOND PHASE WILL RESULT IN AN INNOVATIVE ADVANCE IN METAL-MATRIX COMPOSITE PROCESSING. AT THE SAME TIME, IT EFFECTIVELY ELIMINATES PROBLEMS OF HOMOGENEOUS MIXING, DISTRIBUTION OF SECOND-PHASE PARTICLES, AND CONTAMINATION BY IMPURITIES. THIS PROCESS FOR INCORPORATING NEW STRENGTHENING AND STIFFENING PHASES IN LIGHT METAL ALLOYS AND INTERMETALLIC MATERIALS CAN BE DIRECTLY SCALED TO PRODUCTION QUANTITIES. AT THE SAME TIME,PROPERTIES OF THE DISPERSED PHASE (PARTICLE SIZE, VOLUME/WEIGHT FRACTIONS) WILL BE CONTROLLABLE AND REPEATABLEOVER WIDE RANGES. THIS PROJECT WILL DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF A UNIQUE NEW METHOD FOR PRODUCING DISPERSION-HARDENED ALLOYS. DISPERSED, STABLE, SECOND-PHASE PARTICLES HAVING A CONTROLLED MORPHOLOGY WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO MATRICES OF ALUMINUM AND TITANIUM ALLOYS. THIS WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED BY COATING EACH PARTICLE OF THE MATRIX POWDERS WITH TITANIUM DIBORIDE (TIB2) BY CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION (CVD), FOLLOWEDBY MILLING/GRINDING TO DISPERSE THE SECOND PHASE INTO THE PARTICLES. SUCCESSIVE COATING/MILLING STEPS WILL GUILD UP THE DESIRED VOLUME FRACTION OF DISPERSED SECOND PHASE (=20 PERCENT), FOLLOWED BY CONSOLIDATION. ADDITIONALLY, TIB2, REINFORCEMENT PARTICLES WILL BE COATED WITH TITANIUM AND ALUMINUM AND THEN CONSOLIDATED. THE COMBINATION OF CVD COATING AND MECHANICAL ALLOYING TO PROVIDE AN INTIMATE MIXTURE OF A DISPERSED SECOND PHASE WILL RESULT IN AN INNOVATIVE ADVANCE IN METAL-MATRIX COMPOSITE PROCESSING. AT THE SAME TIME, IT EFFECTIVELY ELIMINATES PROBLEMS OF HOMOGENEOUS MIXING, DISTRIBUTION OF SECOND-PHASE PARTICLES, AND CONTAMINATION BY IMPURITIES. THIS PROCESS FOR INCORPORATING NEW STRENGTHENING AND STIFFENING PHASES IN LIGHT METAL ALLOYS AND INTERMETALLIC MATERIALS CAN BE DIRECTLY SCALED TO PRODUCTION QUANTITIES. AT THE SAME TIME,PROPERTIES OF THE DISPERSED PHASE (PARTICLE SIZE, VOLUME/WEIGHT FRACTIONS) WILL BE CONTROLLABLE AND REPEATABLEOVER WIDE RANGES.