An alloy consisting mainly of niobium microalloying elements added to an iron base. Niobium is a refractory metal with a melting point of 2467℃ and a high strength in the temperature range of 1093 ~ 1427℃. Compared with tungsten and molybdenum alloys, niobium alloys have good plasticity, excellent machining and welding properties, so that niobium alloys can be made into thin plates and complex parts, and can be used as thermal protection and structural materials in aerospace and aviation industries. Niobium alloy is a very attractive high temperature material, it has good high temperature strength and low temperature plasticity. In addition, niobium has a small thermal neutron absorption cross section, resistance to liquid metal corrosion and excellent superconductivity (such as NbSn intermetallic compounds, palladium-alloy and niobium-titanium alloy), which makes niobium alloy considered as one of the most promising high temperature materials.
In the industrial production of niobium alloy, the powder is first made into alloy billets, and then the billets or castings are obtained by high temperature sintering or melting casting, but the melting casting method is the most commonly used, and the melting casting method is mainly electronic east melting and electric arc furnace melting.
There are two methods for the production of niobium alloy strip: reduction method and powder gold treatment method. Reduction method, also known as a reduction method, is to add niobium pentoxide into reducing agent niobium carbide and alloying elements, mix the ingredients, press forming, reduction in vacuum furnace, alloy billet strip.
Powder metallurgy method, also known as secondary reduction method, is the first use of carbon thermal reduction method to obtain metal niobium powder, and then add alloying elements, vacuum reduction to obtain alloy strip niobium alloy sintering or melting casting equipment and metal niobium, the main equipment for niobium alloy billet sintering is vacuum vertical furnace and vacuum medium frequency induction furnace, Electronic melting furnace and vacuum consumable arc furnace are the main equipment used for casting. The sintering or fusion casting process for niobium alloys is also very similar to that for metals and will not be restated here.
