Tantalum is the main metal. When the alloy is formed into wire, it has a uniformity of tensile strength, resulting in a maximum cluster standard deviation of tensile strength of about 3KSI and about 2KSI, respectively, for unannealed and annealed wires of final diameter. Method for manufacturing Ta-Si alloy, which includes conversion of Si containing solid and tantalum containing solid into liquid. They are then mixed into a liquid mixture, which is then used to form a solid alloy. Another method of making Ta-Si alloys consists of forming a mixture of powders containing tantalum or its oxides with powders containing silicon or powders containing silicon compounds, and then converting the mixture into a liquid, which is then used to form a solid alloy. Methods for increasing the tensile strength uniformity of tantalum alloys, reducing the brittleness of tantalum alloys, and providing tantalum alloys with controlled mechanical tensile strength include adding silicon to tantalum metals to form Ta-Si alloys.
Method for manufacturing a metal alloy containing at least tantalum and silicon, in which tantalum constitutes the largest percentage by weight in the metal alloy. The method consists of the following steps: mixing a first powder containing tantalum or its oxides with a second powder containing at least silicon, one of its oxides, or a compound containing silicon to form a mixture. This mixture is then converted to a liquid state by, for example, melting, from which a solid alloy is formed.
A method for manufacturing the alloy includes steps for changing to a liquid state, individually or together, for transforming a silicon-containing solid and a tantalum containing solid into a silicon-containing liquid and a tantalum containing liquid. The two liquids are then mixed to form a liquid mixture, which then forms a solid alloy. It also relates to a method for improving the uniformity of tensile strength of tantalum metal by doping or introducing a sufficient amount of silicon into tantalum metal to improve the uniformity of tensile strength of tantalum metal.
Relates to metal alloy ingot containing at least tantalum and silicon. Tantalum, which is one of the metal alloys, is the main metal present. Therefore, tantalum accounts for the largest percentage by weight of any metal that exists anywhere. In the alloy, the weight percentage of tantalum is at least about 50%, preferably at least about 75%, preferably at least 85% or at least 95%, preferably at least about 97%, or about 97% - about 99.5% or higher. In a better embodiment, the alloy can also be considered to be a tantalum alloy microalloyed with silicon alloy. Silicon exists in low quantities. Preferably the tantalum silicon alloy contains about 50ppm(weight) -about 5% (weight) of elemental silicon, preferably contains about 50ppm- about 1000ppm of elemental silicon, and the most preferably contains about 50ppm- about 300ppm of elemental silicon (based on alloy weight). The alloy preferably contains less than 1% (by weight) of elemental silicon. The silicon content of the alloy is sufficient to make the tensile strength uniformity of the resulting alloy higher than that of the tantalum metal without silicon.