US910894A - Process of making titanium alloys. - Google Patents

Description

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\ UNITED STATES PATENT orr on.

FREDERICK M. BECKET, OFNIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR 'fo ELEcT'ia'o METALLURGICAL coMI ANY, or NEW YORK, Y.; AcoRPoRA'rioN' or WEST VIRGINIA.

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Patented. fan. 26, 1969.

Application filed- June 5, 1907. Serial No. 377,335.

To all whom it may concern: H

Be it known that I, FREDERICK M.BE0'KET, a subj ect of the King of Great Britain, residing'at Niagara Falls, in the,county of Niagara 5 and State of New York, have invented certai'n new and useful Improvements in Processes of Making Titaniu'm Alloys, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is a process of making an alloy or mixture containing as its essential constituents titanium, silicon and carbon in proportions substantially as hereinafter described and usually-in association with iron.

The product is'chiefly intended for use in the treatment of iron or steel for the purpose of removing therefrom the occluded gases and other-impurities such as dissolved metallic oxids, or of producing therewith certain alloys of which titanium is a constituent.

When titanium ores or ores of titanium P and iron are reduced by carbon in an electric furnace, sufiicient carbon being em loyed to insure fair commercial efficiency of t e operation, there is formed a roduct containing a large proportion of car on, such proportion amounting in the case of titanium carbid to approximately twenty'per cent. by weight of t e product. A com ound of this character cultly fusible, and dissolves but slowly in molten metal. It is moreover objectionable by reason of its high carbon content, inasmuch as the quantity of the titaniumcompound which may be added to a given weight of iron or steel is necessarily limited by the carbon content permissiblein the resulting metal.

I have discovered that by associating 'silicon in substantial proportions with the titanium, and by efiecting the reduction under pro er conditions, the proportion of carbon in t e product may be greatly reduced and the product acquires new and valuable characteristics. The silicon in this case acts to some extent as 'a carbon-excluding agent. That isto say, .a reduced roduct containing titanium and silicon exhibits a far lower'affinity for or tendency to combine with carbon than a product containing no silicon; and the higher the proportion of silicon, the less carbon is absorbed under otherwise similar conditions. v

7 It is essential that the titanium should be present in the 'alloy in proportion to render 1t of value for technical pur oses, say in excase of five per cent., and t e percentage of tion of carbon in the resulting metal.

silicon should be sufficient to exert a-marke'd effect upon the carbon content, that is to say to reduce the carbon content to ten per cent. or less. It should'be understood that the percentage of silicon required to effect this result is not fixed and invariable, but bears a general proportion to the percentage of tita-- nium present, for the reason that a given percentage ofsilicon exerts less effect in reaming the carbon content of an alloy high in titanium than is the case with an alloy relatively low in titanium.

lows: A charge containing approximately was reduced in an electric furnace between carbon electrodes In case of alloys lower in titanium the, er-

centage of silicon above noted would yie d a product of lower carbon content; and in case of alloys still richer in titanium it will be necessary to increase very considerably the percentage of silicon in order to maintain the carbon content of the alloy within desirable limits. 7 are desired, these can be secured by suitably increasing the proportion of silicon in the alloy. By using a high-graderutile, products may be obtained containing less iron than is indicated by the above analysis.

Titanium alloys produced in accordance with my-process present as compared with .ferro-titanium the advantages of a lower melting point and a capacity for entering more freely into solution in molten iron or steel; furthermore, by reason of their comparatively low carbon content they may be added, if desired, in relatively large proportions Without unduly increasing the pro hor 611" appearance varies somewhat in accordance with the mode of their roduction, rate'of cooling, etc. in general t ey have a metallic A specific exampleof the process is as fe1-' yielding a product con- In case still lower carbon contents .or added to ,the bath.

I con to exclude from the inmolten iron or steel.

The process may be carried out under varying conditions, the essential feature being the reduction in an electric furnace of an ore containing titanium, in presence of carbon and of sufficient silicon to exclude from the product carbon in excess of ten per cent. The followin methods are satisfactory: (1), by, reducing y carbon in an electric furnace a charge containing oxids of titanium and silicon; (2), by reducin oxid of titanium by carbon in anelectric rnace, ferro-silicon or silicon being incorporated with the char e The carbon is usuaffy employed in substantially the proportion required to unite with the oxygen of the oxid' or oxids of the charge. In any case the process is preferably rendered continuous by adding fresh portions of the charge and re,-" moving the products from timeto time. I claim: 1. The process which consists in reducing a titanium, ore in an electric furnace by means of carbon in presence of sufficient siliproduct carbon in excess often per cent. v

2. The process which consists in reducing in an electric furnaceby means of carbon a charge containin" ores of titanium and silicon; the silicon eing present in sufiicient roportion to exclude from the product caron in excess of ten per cent;

3. Theprocess which consists reducing a titanium ore In an electnc, furnace by means of carbon 1n presence of. sufficient silicon to exclude from the produet carbon per cent., the carbombeing in in excess of ten substantially t eproportion re uired to unite with the 'oxygenlof the oxi or oxide of the charge.

4. The continuous processwhich consists in reducing a titanium ore in an electric furnace by means of carbon in presence of suflicient silicon to exclude from the product carbon in excess of ten per ,cent. adding fresh portions of the charge and withdrawing the. products as desired.

5. The continuous process which consists in reducing in an electric furnace by means of carbon a charge containing ores of titanium and silicon, the silicon being present in suflicient proportion to exclude from the roduct carbon in excess of ten per cent. addmg fresh portions of the char eand withdrawing the products as desire in reducing a titanium ore in an electric furnace by means of carbon in presence of sufiici entsilicon to exclude from the product carbon in excess of ten'per cent., thecarbon be? ing in substantially the pro ortion required to unite with the oxygen of t e oxid or oxids of the. charge, adding fresh portions of the charge and Withdrawing the products as desired.

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

'FREDERIOK M. BEOKET. Witnesses: l 1

CARLEToN FLBROWN, C. C. MOSHER.

6; The continuous process which consists