Fine grained cobalt-chromium alloys containing carbides made by consolidation of amorphous powders

Claim 1

Fine grained cobalt-base alloys containing carbides in bulk form having composition Co a Cr b M c M d 'C e B f , wherein Co, Cr, C, and B respectively represent cobalt, chromium, carbon, and boron, M is one element from the group consisting of tungsten and molybdenum or mixtures thereof, M' is at least one element from the group consisting of iron, nickel, manganese and vanadium and mixtures thereof, and a,b,c,d,e, and f represent respectively atom percent of Co, Cr, M, M', C, and B having the values of a=25-73, b=20-35, c=2-20, d=0-10, e=10-17 and f=1-4 with the provisos that e+f may not exceed 20 and may not be less than 14 and the sum of a+b+c+d+e+f=100, the said alloys being made by consolidating amorphous powders of the said alloy by the application of pressure and heat said powders being made by the method comprising the following steps: (a) Forming a melt of said alloy, (b) depositing said melt against a rapidly moving quench surface adapted to quench said melt at a rate in the range approximately 10 5 ° to 10 7 ° C./second and form thereby a rapidly solidified brittle strip of said alloys characterized by predominantly an amorphous structure and hardness values between 900 and 1350 Kg/mm 2 and, (c) comminuting said strip into powders.