Patent ID: 7666243

Claim:
A method of making a silicon-containing alloy of niobium comprising: 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; and E) applying thermo-mechanical processing steps to the alloy ingot to form a wrought product: wherein the thermo-mechanical processing comprises: i) forging the alloy ingot to form a wrought product; and ii) annealing the wrought product at a temperature of from 950 to 1150° C.; and wherein the annealing results in at least 75% recrystallization.