Patent ID: 7294165

Claim:
A product consisting essentially of polycrystalline chips and optionally a matrix in which the chips are dispersed, the polycrystalline chips having nanocrystalline microstructures and being formed of a material chosen from the group consisting of metals, metal alloys, intermetallic materials, and ceramic materials, the matrix if present being formed of a material chosen from the group consisting of metal, metal alloy, intermetallic materials, polymeric materials, and ceramic materials; wherein the chips are produced by a machining operation so as to be characterized primarily by plane strain deformation and in the form of particulates, ribbons, wires, filaments, and/or platelets; wherein if the product consists essentially of the chips, the chips are held together by consolidation and sintering and the product is a monolithic material consisting essentially of a nanocrystalline microstructure; and wherein if the product consists essentially of the chips dispersed in the matrix material, the product is a composite material.