Method for manufacturing an article from a consolidated metallic powder composition

Abstract

A method for manufacturing an article includes consolidating a metallic powder composition into a consolidated preform, applying a supersolidus heat treatment to the consolidated preform during or after consolidating the metallic powder composition to yield a heat treated preform, and reducing a cross-sectional area of the heat treated preform by thermo-mechanical processing to yield a processed preform.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for manufacturing an article, the method comprising:
 consolidating a metallic powder composition into a consolidated preform;   applying a supersolidus heat treatment to the consolidated preform during or after consolidating the metallic powder composition to yield a heat treated preform; and   reducing a cross-sectional area of the heat treated preform by thermo-mechanical processing to yield a processed preform.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the metallic powder composition comprises at least one of an alloy, an intermetallic, and a metal-matrix composite. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the supersolidus heat treatment is applied during the consolidating of the metallic powder composition into the consolidated preform. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the supersolidus heat treatment is applied after consolidating the metallic powder composition into the consolidated preform. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein consolidating the metallic powder composition results in formation of prior particle boundaries in the consolidated preform, and wherein the supersolidus heat treatment eliminates at least a portion of the prior particle boundaries. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein, following the supersolidus heat treatment, a relative density of the heat treated preform is at most 99 percent. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the thermo-mechanical processing comprises a cogging process. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the thermo-mechanical processing comprises a rotary incremental forming process. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the thermo-mechanical processing comprises:
 reducing the cross-sectional area of the heat treated preform via an initial forming pass so that the heat treated preform has a decreased cross-sectional area; and   reducing the decreased cross-sectional area of the heat treated preform via a subsequent forming pass by a greater percentage than that, by which the cross-sectional area of the heat treated preform was reduced during the initial forming pass.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the initial forming pass reduces the cross-sectional area of the heat treated preform by at most 2 percent. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the subsequent forming pass reduces the decreased cross-sectional area of the heat treated preform by at least 2 percent. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the thermo-mechanical processing is performed at a temperature (in degrees Kelvin) that is at most 95 percent of a solidus temperature (in degrees Kelvin) of the metallic powder composition. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the thermo-mechanical processing is performed at a temperature (in degrees Kelvin) that is in a temperature range of 60 percent to 90 percent of a solidus temperature (in degrees Kelvin) of the metallic powder composition. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the thermo-mechanical processing is performed at a temperature (in degrees Kelvin) that is in a temperature range of 40 percent to 60 percent of a solidus temperature (in degrees Kelvin) of the metallic powder composition. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the thermo-mechanical processing is performed at an average equivalent strain rate that ranges from 0.00001 s −1  to 100 s −1 . 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the thermo-mechanical processing reduces a porosity of the heat treated preform. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising a step of annealing the heat treated preform after the thermo-mechanical processing. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising shaping the processed preform to a final shape after the thermo-mechanical processing. 
     
     
         19 . A method for manufacturing an article, the method comprising:
 consolidating a metallic powder composition into a consolidated preform;   applying a supersolidus heat treatment to the consolidated preform during or after consolidating the metallic powder composition to yield a heat treated preform; and   reducing a cross-sectional area of the heat treated preform by at least one of a cogging process and a rotary incremental forming process to yield a processed preform.   
     
     
         20 . A wrought metallic article manufactured according to a method comprising:
 consolidating a metallic powder composition into a consolidated preform;   applying a supersolidus heat treatment to the consolidated preform during or after consolidating the metallic powder composition to yield a heat treated preform; and   reducing a cross-sectional area of the heat treated preform by thermo-mechanical processing.