Patent ID: 8343402

Claim:
A method to form a composite part from a metallic composite powder, comprising: placing a metallic composite powder preform in a first susceptor, covering at least a portion of the metallic composite powder with a hydrostatic pressing medium; positioning the first susceptor in a first die; positioning a second susceptor in a second die, opposite the first susceptor; moving at least one of the first die or the second die to bring the first susceptor in contact with the second susceptor, thereby forming a mold cavity; sealing at least a portion of the mold cavity; applying a vacuum to at least a portion of the mold cavity; heating the mold cavity to a first processing temperature; applying a pressure to the mold cavity; and applying a thermal oscillation cycle to the mold cavity, wherein the thermal oscillation cycle oscillates the temperature of the mold cavity between a first temperature in which the metallic composite powder is in a first phase and a second temperature in which the metallic composite powder is in a second phase, different from the first phase, wherein the thermal oscillation cycle repeatedly cycles the mold between a first temperature above which at least one component of the metallic composite powder is in an alpha phase and a second temperature at which at least one component of the metallic composite powder is in a gamma phase.