In particular, the manufacturing method of Nb-Ti, Nb-Ti-Zr, Nb-Ti-Ta and other alloys as superconducting electrical materials. Such alloys are often made from raw materials into electrodes and then melted by electric arc furnaces or plasma furnaces. Electrode preparation methods include sheet lamination, powder raw material pressing, chip raw material pressing and so on. Because niobium and titanium are processed into plates respectively, the process is complicated, the metal utilization rate is low, and the material formation process is susceptible to pollution. In the smelting process, niobium non-frit is easy to appear.
The manufacturing method of niobium alloy is to add a certain proportion of niobium scraps and sponge Ti in batches to the container of the plasma furnace, and use the plasma arc heating to continuously melt the alloy electrode, and then melt it by the electric arc furnace. The alloy made in this way has a small segregation, but the shafted raw materials are susceptible to impurities such as oxygen, iron, silicon, and are not easy to clean, and the gas volume is large during smelting, the plasma arc is unstable, and the metal spatter is more.
The invention relates to a niobium base alloy process by powder method. The niobium ingot is first rolled into a plate, the niobium plate is hydrogenated, broken into powder, the niobium powder is mixed with titanium powder to form an electrode, and the alloy ingot is melted by electric arc furnace at least twice. In addition to the high purity niobium ingots rolled into plates, the process is complicated, and the niobium powder after removing hydrogen needs to be sealed and kept, and the niobium powder is easy to inhale and pollute if it is not used for a long time. Moreover, the pressed electrode density is low, the strength is low, the conductivity is poor, the gas content is large, the metal spatter in the smelting is more, the arc is unstable, the electricity is easy to fall off, and the uniformity of the composition does not meet the requirements of some special needs.
The manufacturing method of niobium alloy mainly includes mixing the hydrogenated niobium powder with one or several powders of titanium, tantalum, zirconium and hafnium, pressing them into electrodes, and melting them into alloys after sintering. Smelting can be carried out in a vacuum arc furnace or in a plasma furnace.