US1151160A - Alloy and process of producing the same. - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN LOUIS BROWN, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR TO EDWARD R. COOPER, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

ALLOY AND PROCESS OF PRODUCING THE SAME.

No Drawing.

b all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN LOUIS BROWN, a" citizen of the United States, residing at Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Alloys and Processes of Producing the Same, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to alloys and processes of producing the same; and it comprises as a new article an alloy comprising zirconium and iron, said alloy containing advantageously between 40 and 90 per cent. of zirconium with the residue mainly iron, or an iron group metal, and said alloy also advantageously comprising a certain amount of titanium, and also comprising in certain cases a small amount of aluminum or other metal; and it also comprises a filament or other luminescent body composed of said alloy and it further comprises a method of producing such alloys wherein zirconium and iron compounds are co-reduced in the presence of sufficient titanium compounds to produce certain advantageous effects and to insure the entry of a small amount of metallic titanium into the alloy produced; all as more fully hereinafter set forth and as claimed. 7

Numerous attempts have been made to obtain alloys of zirconium which could be worked up into forms commercially useful, but such attempts have been heretofore largely unsuccessful. Zirconium itself is a hard, brittle substance existing in several allotropic forms, all of which are easily fractured and possess little or no ductility or malleability. These properties have also characterized practically all the alloys or metal mixtures heretofore produced in which zirconium was present in more than comparatively small proportions. Moreover it has been found extremely difficult to alloy zirconium with other metals by direct addition of the one metal to the other with production of uniform and homogeneous ductile and malleable alloyed products; products which are susceptible of being treated by metal-working processes such as drawing, forging, rolling, casting, and the like. The physical and chemical properties of these directly produced alloys prevent such manipulation.

According to the present invention true Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 24, 1915.

Application filed January 22, 1912. Serial No. 672,707.

alloys of zirconium with iron, or another metal of the iron family, are produced by the simultaneous reduction of the constituent metals from compounds containing them. Under these conditions the zirconium and the iron group metals readily unite to form homogeneous alloys of varying composltion depending upon the relative quantities of the materials employed and the conditions of reduction. The alloys thus produced are of a type hitherto unknown among metallic zirconium combinations. They exhibit practically no tendency to oxidize and are highly resistant to most chemical reagents. In appearance they are truly metallic, and they can be produced in compact bodies which upon grinding and polishi are adapted to be worked up into shaped articles having utility in many connections.

A highly important application of these alloys is in the manufacture of drawn filaments, glowers or other luminescent bodies for electric lamps. In use, the filaments have the property of selective radiation, (that is emit more light than corresponds to the temperature) and may be used to make lamps which require considerably less than the usual Wattage per candle power. They possess a remarkably high degree of luminescence at relatively low filament tem peratures and are thus very eflicient sources of light. While other metals of the iron group than iron itself, such as nickel, cobalt, or manganese, or alloys or mixtures thereof, are capable of se in the present invention, they are not in practice as desirable as iron. For the present purposes, iron is by far the most satisfactory metal of the iron group. The relative proportions of iron and zirconium in alloys under the present' of zirconium in such binary alloys are still more desirable for various reasons; and the alloys of from approximately to 90 per cent. zirconium content with 40 to 10 per cent. of iron are particularly advantageous.

The excellence of these zirconium alloys may be considerably enhanced and many desirable properties attained by the inclusion of a small amount of titanium in the alloy, either by co-reduction of titanium with the other constituents, or by separate addition of titanium to a'preformed alloy. The allowable amount of titanium so present is not rigidly restricted, but very small quantities prove eflicacious in practice. As little as 0.10 per cent. serves the present purpose in some instances, and it is seldom necessary in alloys for most purposes that the titanium content shall exceed 2 or 3 per cent. These small amounts of titanium give enhanced strength and toughness to the zirconium alloys, and also increase their electrical properties. are also more pronounced. Furthermore in the manufacture of these alloys by co-reduction of the component metals, the presence of the titanium compounds in the mixture reduced has a useful efiect in preventing the undesirable retention of oxygen and oxygen compounds in the alloy or resultant melt. The presence of titanium also operates to exclude nitrogen, carbon and other metalloids'from the alloy produced. Oxygen and other metalloids have an undesirable eifect on malleability, ductility and texture; Ternary alloys containing a certain amount of titanium with preponderating proportions of zirconium and iron have certain decided advantages over the simple b1- nary alloys for many purposes.v Finally, the addition of small amounts of other metals such as ,aluminum, tantalum, columbium, (niobium,) etc., give quaternary and still more complex zirconium-iron alloys which for some purposes ofi'er particular advantages and in them the relative proportions of zirconium and iron may often, with advantage, vary more widely than in the simple binary zirconium iron alloys. It is to be understood, however, that in all these alloys under the resent invention the combined zirconium-iron content preponderates over the other metals. Typical analyses of quaternary alloys of the present invention comprising zirconium, iron, titanium and aluminum are as follows: zirconium 65.78%, 32.97%; iron 26.39%, 90.97%, 49.21%; titanium 0.12%, 0.13%, 0.42%; aluminum 7.71 %,-0.4:7%, 17.40%. 4

The described alloys are substantially iron-zirconium alloys, other metals forming a minor fraction. And, for practical purposes, these alloys may be looked upon as zirconium alloyed with iron or its equivalent, an iron-rich ferrous alloy.

The ductility and malleability The process of making the described alloys under the present invention is one of coreduction of compounds containing zirconium and iron in such a manner that the two metals are presented to each other in a reaction being started with any firing means or materials such as magnesium, barium oxids, etc. In making an alloy of iron and zirconium containing about 44.7 per cent. zirconium the following equation may serve to represent the. reaction of'reduction by aluminum:

( z) s'i' z s'i': 2) 3 The process of reduction may also be carried out by suitably heating the mixed oxids in a graphite crucible as by means of the oxyacetylene flame, or electrically. Or, a mixture of titaniferous oxid of iron, and the mineral zircon, or other zirconiumcontaining materials, such as zirconia to gether with suitable amounts of titaniferous minerals such as rutile, ihnenite, sphene, ti.-

suitably shaping the alloys produced as' above described may be heated to the necessary temperature, rolled, drawn, swaged or extruded through dies to size, the alloy rod being conveniently heated by passage of a current therethrough during drawing. With many of the present alloys no special precautions need [be taken to avoid oxidation during working, but where necessary or desirable, working may be carried on in "vacuo or in an inert atmosphere.

In addition to their utility for incandescent lamp filaments and for glowers, alloys under the present invention may be usefully employed in forming arcs. As stated, the present materials give out more light than isequivalent to their temperature.

Being resistant to acids and corrosion, the

alloys may be used for various shaped articles for ornamental and other purposes,

such as spark points, etc. Another field of utility for these alloys is in the manufacture of transformer elements.

Halogen compounds, such as fluorids, chlorids, etc., of the various metals may be used in making the alloys by co-reduction; but their use offers no advantage over that of the employment of the oxidized compounds of the metals as described.

What I claim is 1. As a new article, an alloy comprising not less than about 40 per cent. and not more than about 90 per cent. zirconium together with an iron group metal.

52. As a new article, an alloy comprising not less than about 40 per cent.- and not more than about 90 per cent. zirconium together with iron.

3. As a new article, an alloy comprising approximately between 60and 90 per cent. zirconium together with an iron group metal.

4. As a new article, an alloy comprising approximately between 60 and 90 per cent. zirconium together with iron.

5. An alloy comprising between 60 and 90 per cent. zirconium, the residue of said alloy being mainly iron, and said alloy being substantially free of oxygen, oxids and metalloids and being malleable and ductile.

6. The process of making an alloy comprising iron and zirconium which comprises admixing materials containing compounds of iron and of zirconium and co-reducing the metals from the mixture as an alloy.

7. The process of making an alloy comprising'iron and zirconium which comprises admixing materials containing compounds of iron, of zirconium and of titanium and co-reducing the metals from the mixture as an alloy.

8. The process of making an alloy comprising iron and zirconium which comprises admixing materials containing compounds of iron and of zirconium fwith metallic aluminum and igniting the mixture.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN LOUIS BROWN. Witnesses:

HOWARD S. SHELDS, E. R. COOPER.