US Patent 9551049 High elastic modulus shafts and method of manufacture

High modulus turbine shafts and high modulus cylindrical articles are described as are the process parameters for producing these shafts and cylindrical articles. The shafts/articles have a high Young's modulus as a result of having high modulus <111> crystal texture along the longitudinal axis of the shaft/article. The shafts are produced from directionally solidified seeded <111> single crystal cylinders that are axisymmetrically hot worked before a limited recrystallization process is carried out at a temperature below the recrystallization temperature of the alloy. The disclosed process produces an intense singular <111> texture and results in shaft or cylindrical article with a Young's modulus that is at least 40% greater than that of conventional nickel or iron alloys or conventional steels.