Organic interdispersion cold bonding control agents for use in mechanical alloying

Claim 1

IN THE PROCESS OF PRODUCING MECHANICALLY ALLOYED SUPERALLOY COMPOSITE PRODUCT POWDER PARTICLES CONSISTING OF UP TO 65 PERCENT CHROMIUM, UP TO 10 PERCENT ALLUMINUM, UP TO 8 PERCENT TITANIUM, UP TO 30 PERCENT MOLYBDENUM, UP TO 25 PERCENT TUNGSTEN, UP TO 10 PERCENT COLUMBIUM, UP TO 10 PERCENT TANTALUM, UP TO 7 PERCENT ZIRCONIUM, UP TO 0.5 PERCENT BORON, UP TO 5 PERCENT HAFNIUM, UP TO 2 PERCENT VANADIUM, UP TO 6 PERCENT COPPER, UP TO 5 PERCENT MANGANESE, UP TO 70 PERCENT IRON, AND THE BALANCE ESSENTIALLY NICKEL AND/OR COBALT, THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES CONDUCTING THE MECHANICAL ALLOYING OPERATION IN THE PRESENCE OF AN INTERDISPERSION COLD BONDING AGENT (ICBCA) SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF METHANE, ETHANE, PROPANE AND HEXANE, THE ICBCA BEING IN CONTACT WITH THE POWDER PARTICLES TO BE MECHANICALLY ALLOYED AND BEING PRESENT IN AN AMOUNT EFFECTIVE TO PROVIDE THE NECESSARY CONTROL BALANCE DURING THE COURSE OF THE OPERATION WITH THE UPPER LIMIT BEING NOT GREATER THAN 3 PERCENT BY WEIGHT OF THE POWDER CHARGE, THE CONTROL BALANCE BEING SUCH THAT AN INTIMATE INTERDISPERSION OF CONSTITUENT POWDERS IS ACHIEVED WITHOUT INCURRING SERIOUS IMPAIRMENT OF THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF THE COMPOSITION TO BE PRODUCED AND WITHOUT EITHER THE FORMATION OF AN APPRECIABLE AMOUNT OF DETRIMENTALLY LARGE COMPOSITE PARTICLES OR THE DELETERIOUS ADHERENCE OF POWDERS TO THE MILLING ELEMENTS OR MILL INTERIOR SURFACES.