Materion awarded two patents for alloy fabrication process

Mayfield Heights, Ohio-based Materion Performance Alloys has received two patents for processes that improve the fabrication of BrushForm® 158 (BF 158), the strip form of the company’s high-strength, copper-nickel-tin ToughMet® alloy. The patents cover new manufacturing technologies that combine multiple steps of thermal and mechanical processing to produce an alloy with increased strength and improved formability.

The new patents protect technology used by the company to manufacture its advanced materials for use in the aerospace, energy, and electronic markets. The company received three patents in 2016 for its improvements to the fabrication process of ToughMet alloys.

“The process allows for fine dispersion of tiny precipitates in the strip, which provides the enhanced properties,” said W. Glenn Maxwell, president. The BF 158 copper-nickel-tin alloys provide strength in very thin gauges, making them suitable for next-generation electronics devices. The alloys offer higher strength than other copper alloys and do not contain beryllium, so they can be used when a beryllium-free alloy is desired. The materials are RoHS-compliant and infinitely recyclable.