This disclosure provides an improvement over the state of the art by teaching a low-cost method to produce feedstock powder, without undergoing a phase change, from industrially relevant wrought alloys that are widely available at low cost. The surfaces of aspherical particles are functionalized with particulates having a different size and composition than the particles, to control the solidification response of the feedstock. Some variations provide a metal-containing functionalized material comprising: a plurality of aspherical particles comprising a metal or a metal alloy; and a plurality of metal-containing or ceramic particulates that are assembled on surfaces of the aspherical particles, wherein the particulates are compositionally different than the aspherical particles. Methods of making and using the metal-containing functionalized materials are described. The invention provides an economic advantage over traditional gas-atomized or water-atomized metal powder feedstocks for powder-based metal additive manufacturing or other powder metallurgy processes.

A soft magnetic composite comprising an iron or iron alloy ferromagnetic material coated with an oxide material. An interface between the ferromagnetic material and the layer of oxide contains antiphase domain boundaries. Two processes for producing a soft magnetic composite are also provided. One process includes depositing an oxide layer onto an iron or iron alloy ferromagnetic material by molecular beam epitaxy at a partial oxygen pressure of from 1×10.sup.−5 Torr to 1×10.sup.−7 Torr to form a coated composite. The other process includes milling an iron or iron alloy ferromagnetic material powder and an oxide powder by high-energy milling to form a mixture; compacting the mixture and curing in an inert gas atmosphere at a temperature from 500° C. to 1200° C. to form a soft magnetic composite.

A thermoelectric sintered body according to an embodiment comprises thermoelectric powder, the thermoelectric powder, arranged in a horizontal direction, comprising: a plurality of first powders in the shape of plate-type flakes; and a plurality of second powders in a shape different from that of the first powders, wherein the second powders comprise 5 volume % or less of the total thermoelectric powder.

To produce metallic beryllium spheres with high sphericity in a large quantity efficiently at a low cost by a simple method. The continuously producing method of metal beryllium spheres, comprising the steps of: collecting granulated beryllium spheres produced b by charging beryllium powder into a rotary kiln; classifying the collected beryllium spheres by particle size with an automatic sieve; and crushing particles of beryllium spheres of non-target diameters and mixing them with the raw material beryllium powder for reuse. The rotary kiln has a core tube the inner surface of which is coated with beryllium oxide by sintering the slurry coating of beryllium hydroxide applied after alkaline silica treatment.

According to the present invention, there are provided processes for preparing a porous composite material comprising a metal and a two-dimensional nanomaterial. In one aspect, the processes comprise the steps of: providing a powder comprising metal particles; heating the powder such that the metal particles fuse to form a porous scaffold; and forming a two-dimensional nanomaterial on a surface of the porous scaffold by chemical vapour deposition (CVD). Also provided are materials obtainable by the present processes, and products comprising said materials.

In a projection material for mechanical plating, a steel particle is used as a core, and the surrounding surface thereof is coated with a zinc alloy in which the content of Al is more than 5% by mass but equal to or less than 16% by mass, the content of Mg is equal to or more than 5.5% by mass but equal to or less than 15% by mass and the remaining portion is Zn and an impurity, and the content of Fe is equal to or more than 3% by mass but equal to or less than 80% by mass. In this way, the corrosion resistance of a zinc-based coating itself formed in mechanical plating is remarkably enhanced without dependence on protective coating formation treatment such as chromate treatment.

An objective of the invention is to provide an austenitic stainless steel article having superior irradiation resistance and stress corrosion cracking resistance than before while maintaining mechanical properties equivalent to those of conventional ones. There is provided a dispersion strengthened austenitic stainless steel article, including: 16-26 mass % of Cr; 8-22 mass % of Ni; 0.005-0.08 mass % of C; 0.002-0.1 mass % of N; 0.02-0.4 mass % of O; at least one of 0.2-2.8 mass % of Zr, 0.4-5 mass % of Ta, and 0.2-2.6 mass % of Ti; and a balance consisting of Fe and inevitable impurities. The Zr, Ta and Ti components form inclusion particles in the stainless steel article by combining with the C, N and O components. The stainless steel article has an average grain size of 1 m or less and a maximum grain size of 5 m or less.

A method of producing flakes containing nanostructures from a part made of a material. The method includes subjecting the part made of the material to peening by shots driven by ultrasonic energy for a period of time, wherein nano structures form on the surface of the part and, subsequently, damage to the part caused by continued peening of the part by the shots driven by ultrasonic energy results in separation of flakes containing nanostructures from the part made of the material. Nanocrystalline flakes containing fractured surfaces, microcracks, nanograins and nanolamellae. Sensors comprising nanocrystalline flakes containing fractured surfaces, microcracks, nanograins and nanolamellae.

A granulated material having an improved size distribution and a method and apparatus for the production of such a granular material where the grain size and grain size distribution is controlled by the use of a rotating distributor. The rotating distributor includes an upper inlet opening, sidewalls, a bottom and at least one row of openings at the lower end of the sidewalls. The openings in the sidewalls have a size of at least 5 mm in the smallest dimension.

Methods of removing oxygen from a metal are described. In one example, a method (100) can include forming a mixture (110) including a metal, a calcium de-oxygenation agent, and a salt. The mixture can be heated (120) at a de-oxygenation temperature for a period of time to reduce an oxygen content of the metal, thus forming a de-oxygenated metal. The de-oxygenation temperature can be above a melting point of the salt and below a melting point of the calcium de-oxygenation agent. The de-oxygenated metal can then be cooled (130). The de-oxygenated metal can then be leached with water and acid to remove by-products and obtain a product (140).