Patent ID: 7803211

Claim:
A method for producing large diameter alloy ingots comprising: introducing a material comprising at least one of a metal and a metallic alloy into a pressure-regulated chamber in a melting assembly; subjecting the material to a three-dimensional wide-area electron field within the pressure-regulated chamber to heat the material to a temperature above the melting temperature of the material to form a molten alloy; providing at least one stream of molten alloy from the pressure-regulated chamber in the melting assembly; feeding the at least one stream of molten alloy into an atomizing assembly wherein electrons are impinged on the molten alloy to atomize the molten alloy and produce molten alloy particles; producing at least one of an electrostatic field and an electromagnetic field, wherein the particles of the molten alloy are influenced by the field; and depositing the particles of the molten alloy onto a collector in a spray forming operation to form an alloy ingot.