Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01H—ELECTRIC SWITCHES; RELAYS; SELECTORS; EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE DEVICES
  • H01H1/00—Contacts
  • H01H1/02—Contacts characterised by the material thereof
  • H01H1/021—Composite material
  • H01H1/023—Composite material having a noble metal as the basic material
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C22—METALLURGY; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS
  • C22C—ALLOYS
  • C22C5/00—Alloys based on noble metals
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10S428/00—Stock material or miscellaneous articles
  • Y10S428/922—Static electricity metal bleed-off metallic stock
  • Y10S428/9265—Special properties
  • Y10S428/929—Electrical contact feature
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T428/00—Stock material or miscellaneous articles
  • Y10T428/12—All metal or with adjacent metals
  • Y10T428/12014—All metal or with adjacent metals having metal particles
  • Y10T428/1216—Continuous interengaged phases of plural metals, or oriented fiber containing
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T428/00—Stock material or miscellaneous articles
  • Y10T428/12—All metal or with adjacent metals
  • Y10T428/12458—All metal or with adjacent metals having composition, density, or hardness gradient
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T428/00—Stock material or miscellaneous articles
  • Y10T428/12—All metal or with adjacent metals
  • Y10T428/12493—Composite; i.e., plural, adjacent, spatially distinct metal components [e.g., layers, joint, etc.]
  • Y10T428/12771—Transition metal-base component
  • Y10T428/12861—Group VIII or IB metal-base component
  • Y10T428/12868—Group IB metal-base component alternative to platinum group metal-base component [e.g., precious metal, etc.]
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T428/00—Stock material or miscellaneous articles
  • Y10T428/12—All metal or with adjacent metals
  • Y10T428/12493—Composite; i.e., plural, adjacent, spatially distinct metal components [e.g., layers, joint, etc.]
  • Y10T428/12771—Transition metal-base component
  • Y10T428/12861—Group VIII or IB metal-base component
  • Y10T428/12875—Platinum group metal-base component

Definitions

• a cold-workable ruthenium alloy capable of being cold drawn to wire containing, by weight, about 60% to about 90% ruthenium, about 5% to about 40% copper, up to about 35 palladium and up to about nickel is produced by liquid-phase sintering, preferably by infiltration of copper or copper alloy into a ruthenium compact, at temperatures between 1083 C. and 1500 C.
• Such an alloy has the essential advantageous properties of pure ruthenium but can be worked.
• the more wear-resistant ruthenium grains stand out presenting, in effect, a substantially pure ruthenium surface. Deeper within the mass of the alloy the ruthenium grains are surrounded by and metallurgically bonded to the matrix metal.
• the matrix metal and the ruthenium co-operate to produce a workable alloy of substantial hardness and strength and appreciable ductility.
• an alloy composed of grains of ruthenium dispersed in a matrix contains by weight from 5% to copper, from 0 to 35% palladium and 0 to 10% nickel, the balance except for impurities being ruthenium and amounting to at least 60%.
• the impurities normally will not exceed 0.5%.
• the alloys according to the invention are made by powder-metallurgical methods which involve heating a powder compact to a sintering temperature at which the matrix melts but the ruthenium does not.
• This compact may initially consist of all the elements, or only of the ruthenium, the compact then being infiltrated with molten matrix at the sintering temperature, which may be from 1083 C. (the melting point of copper) to 1500 C. It is advantageous to subject a ruthenium compact to light sintering under vacuum before the infiltration.
• ruthenium enters the matrix, which indeed is believed to become substantially saturated in ruthenium, and the ruthenium grains, which are advantageously from 0.002 inch to 0.0002 inch in diameter, become metallurgically bonded to the matrix. It is found that in the process the grains of ruthenium tend to grow, and also to become rounded. Workability of the alloy depends to some extent upon this phenomenon, increasing as the spheroidicity of the ruthenium particles increases. Sagging or distortion occurs during sintering if the ruthe nium content is below 60% and the ductility of the alloy is low if the ruthenium is above 90%, the ruthenium con- 3,498,763 Patented Mar. 3, 1970 tent preferably not exceeding If the matrix amounts to less than 5% of the alloy, workability is lost.
• the matrix is binary, the alloy containing from 20% to 25% copper and either 1% to 5% nickel or 9% to 13% palladium.
• composition of some alloys within the invention will now be given, the balance in each case being ruthenium. All the alloys were made by infiltration of a molten matrix into a ruthenium compact for two hours.
• the ruthenium powder had a particle size of about 4a (microns).
• the temperature of infiltration is given in each case, together with the extent to which the alloy could be reduced by cold forging Without intermediate anneals before edge cracks developed and the hardnesses of the primary phase (the ruthenium) and the secondary phase (the matrix).
• Cu Ni 0. percent mHV mHVr Alloys as described in the table are capable of being drawn to wire, with cold reductions in area of about 5% to 10% per pass being employed and with total cold reductions in area of 30% being realized without intermediate anneals. Wire having a diameter as small as 0.06 inch can be produced from these alloys.
• the alloys according to the invention are eminently suitable for electrical contacts since the alloys can be made into wire and upset or coldheaded to produce contact surfaces.
• the invention affords two additional advantages. One arises from the fact that the sintering of alloys of the kind in question is efiected in practice in a non-oxidizing atmosphere.
• the prior alloys containing palladium in the matrix are sintered in argon with or without partial vacuum because of the ease with which palladium picks up hydrogen.
• the present alloys that have a matrix of copper or copper and nickel can be sintered at substantially atmospheric pressure in hydrogen or a mixture of hydrogen and nitrogen, both of which are cheaper and more readily available than argon.
• the second additional advantage is that copper and nickel are less expensive than palladium and gold.
• a liquid-phase sintered alloy containing, by weight, about 5% to about 40% copper, up to about 35 palladium, up to about 10% nickel and the balance essentially ruthenium, with the ruthenium content being at having aduplex microstructureconsisting of rounded ru-- thenium grains in a matrix from the group consisting of copper and of copper alloyed with at least one metal from the group consisting of nickel and palladium and saturated with ruthenium.
• An alloy according to claim 1 containing not more than 80% palladium.
• An alloy according to claim 1 containing about 20% to about 25% copper and one metal from the group consisting of about 1% to about 5% nickel and 9% to about 13% palladium.

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• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Materials Engineering (AREA)
• Composite Materials (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Metallurgy (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Powder Metallurgy (AREA)
• Inert Electrodes (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Publications (1)

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ID=10037521

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Cited By (4)

Families Citing this family (2)

Citations (6)

• 1968
  • 1968-03-25 GB GB04237/68A patent/GB1188773A/en not_active Expired
• 1969
  • 1969-03-11 US US806314A patent/US3498763A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1969-03-22 DE DE1914631A patent/DE1914631C3/de not_active Expired
  • 1969-03-25 BE BE730408D patent/BE730408A/xx unknown
  • 1969-03-25 FR FR6908731A patent/FR2004686A6/fr not_active Expired

Patent Citations (6)

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