US Patent 7666243 Fine grain niobium sheet via ingot metallurgy

A method of making a silicon-containing alloy of niobium that includes:A) forming a blend comprising niobium powder and silicon powder and pressing the blend to form pressed blend;B) attaching the pressed blend to an electrode comprising niobium;C) melting the electrode and pressed blend under vacuum arc remelting conditions, such that the blend mixes with the melted electrode;D) cooling the melted electrode to form an alloy ingot; andE) applying thermo-mechanical processing steps to the alloy ingot to form a wrought product.The method provides a fully recrystalized niobium wrought product with a grain size finer that ASTM 5, that can be used to make deep drawn cups and sputtering targets.