Patent ID: 9192992
Filing Date: 2015-11-24
Classification: B22F,C22C,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A method of producing lamellar metal particles in a ball mill, wherein the ball mill comprises an internal mill chamber and further wherein the internal mill chamber contains an amount of grinding media having a mass, the method comprising the steps of: (i) adding an amount of a metal charge having a mass that is between about 2% and about 12% of the mass of the grinding media to the internal mill chamber; (ii) adding an amount of a milling lubricant that is between about 0.75% and about 3% of the mass of the metal charge to the internal mill chamber; (iii) adding an amount of an anti-welding additive that is between about 0.15% and about 3.5% of the mass of the metal charge to the internal mill chamber; (iv) dry milling the metal charge by operating the mill at between about 14 and about 45 rpm for between about 6 and about 18 hours; (v) providing a mill chamber temperature of between about 140° F. and about 380° F.; and (vi) removing a metal flake product from the mill chamber, wherein the metal flake product comprises lamellar particles ranging in size from between about 1 and about 110 microns in major dimension.