Abstract: A method (20) of fabricating a large component such as a gas turbine or compressor disk (32) from segregation-prone materials such as Alloy 706 or Alloy 718 when the size of the ingot required is larger than the size that can be predictably formed without segregations using known triple melt processes. A sound inner core ingot (12) is formed (22) to a first diameter (D1), such as by using a triple melt process including vacuum induction melting (VIM), electroslag remelting (ESR), and vacuum arc remelting (VAR). Material is than added (26) to the outer surface (16) of the core ingot to increase its size to a dimension (D2) required for the forging operation (28). A powder metallurgy or spray deposition process may be used to apply the added material. The added material may have properties that are different than those of the core ingot and may be of graded composition across its depth. This process overcomes ingot size limitations for segregation-prone materials.

Abstract: A continuously cast copper ingot is made by a procedure in which turbulence is imparted to the metal/solid interface during the casting operation. The ingot is then hot worked to form a billet having a smaller average grain size and a larger diameter than possible in the past. The billet is especially useful for making electroplating anodes used in the damascene process for making copper interconnects in silicon wafers.