Thermomechanically processed, nanostructure aluminum-rare earth element alloys

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12416069-B2
Application number	US-202117335274-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 1, 2021
Priority date	Jun 1, 2021
Publication date	Sep 16, 2025
Grant date	Sep 16, 2025

Abstract

A product includes a material having aluminum and at least one rare earth element (REE). The material includes the following microstructure features: at least 1 volume % particles of a phase of an aluminum-rare earth element alloy, the particles comprise at least 5 weight % of the at least one rare earth element, the particles have an average aspect ratio less than or equal to 5, and an average interparticle spacing between the particles is less than or equal to 1 μm. A method includes forming a base material, the base material having aluminum and at least one rare earth element (REE), and working the base material to form a product.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A product, comprising:
a material having aluminum and at least one rare earth element (REE),
the material having the following microstructure features:
at least 1 volume % particles of a phase of an aluminum-rare earth element alloy,
wherein the particles comprise at least 5 weight % of the at least one rare earth element,
wherein the particles have an average aspect ratio less than or equal to 5, and
wherein at least 20% by volume of the particles of the aluminum-rare earth element alloy have a particle size above 100 nm.

2. The product of claim 1 , wherein the at least one rare earth element includes cerium (Ce).

3. The product of claim 1 , wherein the at least one rare earth element is selected from the group consisting of: scandium (Sc), yttrium (Y), lanthanum (La), praseodymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd), samarium (Sm), europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), terbium (Tb), dysprosium (Dy), holmium (Ho), erbium (Er), thulium (Tm), ytterbium (Yb), and lutetium (Lu).

4. The product of claim 1 , wherein the at least one rare earth element includes mischmetal.

5. The product of claim 1 , wherein the at least one rare earth element is present in a weight percentage of the material in a range of about 4% to about 20%.

6. The product of claim 1 , wherein the material comprises at least two rare earth elements.

7. The product of claim 1 , wherein the material comprises at least one additional element, wherein the at least one additional element is selected from the group consisting of: magnesium (Mg), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), and nickel (Ni), wherein the at least one additional element is present in a weight percentage of the material in a range of greater than 0% to about 15%.

8. The product of claim 7 , wherein the material is configured for use in an application selected from the group consisting of: an electric vehicle battery, an internal engine component, a reciprocating component, a piston, a brake rotor, a cylinder head, and a suspension component.

9. The product of claim 1 , wherein the material comprises silicon (Si) present in a weight percentage of the material in a range of greater than 0% to about 25%.

10. The product of claim 1 , wherein the material comprises zinc (Zn) present in a weight percentage of the material in a range of greater than 0% to about 75%.

11. The product of claim 1 , wherein the material comprises at least one additional element selected from the group consisting of: zirconium (Zr), scandium (Sc), titanium (Ti), and chromium (Cr), wherein the at least one additional element is present in a weight percentage of the material in a range of greater than 0% to about 2%.

12. The product of claim 1 , wherein the material comprises at least one additional element selected from the group consisting of: iron (Fe), lithium (Li), and silver (Ag), wherein the at least one additional element is present in a weight percentage of the material in a range of greater than 0% to about 5%.

13. The product of claim 1 , wherein the microstructure features are characterized as having about 80% of an internal particle volume fraction thereof having an internal particle size dispersion in a range from about 5 nm to about 200 nm.

14. A method, comprising:
forming the material having aluminum and at least one rare earth element (REE) as recited in claim 1 ; and
working the material to form the product.

15. The product of claim 1 , wherein the material consists of the aluminum and the at least one rare earth element.

16. The product of claim 1 , wherein the at least one rare earth element is present in a weight percentage of the material in a range of greater than 8% to less than 18%.

17. The product of claim 1 , wherein the material comprises magnesium (Mg) present in a weight percentage of the material in a range of greater than 0% to about 15%.
a material having aluminum and at least one rare earth element (REE),
the material having the following microstructure features:
at least 1 volume % particles of a phase of an aluminum-rare earth element alloy,
wherein the particles comprise at least 5 weight % of the at least one rare earth element,

wherein the particles have an average aspect ratio less than or equal to 5,
wherein an average interparticle spacing between the particles is less than or equal to 1 μm, and
wherein at least 20% by volume of the particles of the aluminum-rare earth element alloy have a particle size above 100 nm.

18. A product, comprising:
a material having aluminum and at least one rare earth element (REE),
the material having the following microstructure features:
at least 1 volume % particles of a phase of an aluminum-rare earth element alloy,
wherein the particles comprise at least 5 weight % of the at least one rare earth element,
wherein an average interparticle spacing between the particles is less than or equal to 1 μm, and
wherein at least 20% by volume of the particles of the aluminum-rare earth element alloy have a particle size above 100 nm.

19. A product, comprising:
a material having aluminum and at least one rare earth element (REE),
the material having the following microstructure features:
at least 1 volume % particles of a phase of an aluminum-rare earth element alloy,
wherein the particles comprise at least 5 weight % of the at least one rare earth element,
wherein an average interparticle spacing between the particles is less than or equal to 1 μm, and
wherein at least 20% by volume of the particles of the aluminum-rare earth element alloy have a particle size above 100 nm.

20. The product of claim 18 , comprising an object selected from the group consisting of: an electric vehicle battery, an internal engine component, a reciprocating component, a piston, a brake rotor, a cylinder head, and a suspension component; at least a portion of the object being formed of the material.

Assignees

• L Livermore Nat Security Llc
• Eck Ind Inc
• Univ Iowa State Res Found Inc
• Univ Tennessee Res Found

Inventors

• Henderson Hunter Bryant
• Weiss David
• Ott Ryan T
• Rios Orlando

Classifications

• B22F1/05

  Metallic powder characterised by the size or surface area of the particles · CPC title

• B22F2301/052

  Aluminium · CPC title

• B22F2998/00

  Supplementary information concerning processes or compositions relating to powder metallurgy · CPC title

• B33Y70/00

  Materials specially adapted for additive manufacturing · CPC title

• B22F10/28

  Powder bed fusion, e.g. selective laser melting [SLM] or electron beam melting [EBM] · CPC title