Abstract: In the production of alloy by evaporation from an evaporation bath and condensation under vacuum, charge replenishment is achieved by a procedure involving bleeding charge from the bath and admixing the bled charge with replenishment material and introducing replenishment from the admixture. An apparatus for use in the process comprises a mixing passageway encompassing an evaporation bath and distributed sub-surface bleed ports and feed ports linking the evaporation bath and the mixing chamber. Flow of metal through the ports is induced by pumped circulation in the mixing chamber. The circulation is turbulent for good mixing of the metals.

Abstract: A reuseable collector for use in a process for the bulk production of alloy by deposition from the vapor phase. The collector employs a coating of solder alloy on the deposition surface such that after deposition has been completed the solder alloy may be melted and the deposited alloy removed from the collector without the necessity of destroying the collector.

Abstract: The porosity of bulk alloys produced by deposition of the components of the alloy from the vapor phase can be reduced if the surface of the alloy is mechanically worked, preferably by a peening action, during the course of the deposition.Suitable apparatus for mechanically working the surface of the alloy are sets of hammers or flails driven by a suitable means that they strike the surface of the alloy with sufficient force to flatten asperities produced during the course of the deposition and preferably sufficient to remove porosity adjacent to the surface, yet do not at the same time grossly distort the surface of the alloy.

Abstract: An aluminium alloy is provided which consists of 2 to 12% by weight of chromium, 0.2 to 3.0% by weight of iron, the balance being aluminium apart from minor proportions of impurities and incidental elements wherein most of the chromium is present as a metastable solution in the aluminium lattice which contains a precipitate phase of iron rich zones the major proportion of which have dimensions of 200A or less, the presence of large intermetallic particles, particularly at grain boundaries, being at a minimum. This alloy may be produced by an evaporation deposition process.

Abstract: The evaporation of metal for the production of alloys by the deposition of the components from the vapour phase is carried out in a controllably heated source comprising a melting compartment, in which in operation the metal is melted; a mixing compartment, a constriction in the passage from the melting to the mixing compartment to minimise back mixing of the molten metal, and an evaporation compartment, the supply of metal from the mixing compartment to the evaporation compartment being below the surface of the molten metal. Heating is preferably by electron beam heating.