Ishifuku Metal Industry Co., Ltd.

Denso Corporation

Yoshinori Doi

Shunsuke Yokota

Nobuo Abe

Ken Hanashi

Yuki Murayama

Ryohei Akiyoshi

Toshiyuki Tomine

Daisuke Kon

Provided is an Ir alloy which is excellent in high temperature strength while ensuring oxidation wear resistance at high temperature. The Ir alloy consists of: 7 mass % or more, and less than 10 mass % of Rh; 0.5 mass % to 5 mass % of Ta; 0 mass % to 5 mass % of at least one kind of element selected from among Co, Cr, and Ni; and Ir as the balance, wherein a total content of the Ta and the at least one kind of element selected from among Co, Cr, and Ni is 5 mass % or less.

Heat-resistant IR alloy

An Ir alloy is excellent in high temperature strength while ensuring oxidation wear resistance at high temperature. The heat-resistant Ir alloy includes: 5 mass % to 30 mass % of Rh; 0.3 mass % to 5 mass % of an element group A made of at least one kind of element selected from among Ta and Re; and 0 mass % to 5 mass % of an element group B made of at least one kind of element selected from among Co, Cr, and Ni, wherein the heat-resistant Ir alloy includes 5 mass % or less of the element group A and the element group B in total, and wherein, when the at least one kind of element in the element group A includes Re, the at least one kind of element in the element group B is Co alone, Cr alone, or two or more kinds selected from Co, Cr, and Ni.

Heat-resistant Ir alloy

Provided is a method for producing a platinum group-based alloy capable of producing a sound molten ingot of a platinum group-based alloy in a large amount. The method for producing a platinum group-based alloy includes a molten ingot production step of a continuous casting system using a plasma arc melting furnace configured to form a plasma arc column between an electrode torch which is arranged in an upper part of a vacuum chamber and a water cooled copper crucible which is arranged in a lower part of the chamber and has a cavity having a sectional area S, the molten ingot production step including: inserting and melting an end part of a raw material bar including a platinum group-based alloy in the plasma arc column to cause the raw material bar to fall in drops on a base material in the water cooled copper crucible, to thereby form a molten pool; and solidifying a bottom part of the molten pool while maintaining a constant liquid level height of the molten pool by pulling down the base material, the molten ingot having a horizontal sectional area S (mm) and a length L (mm) satisfying the following relationship: S&#x2267;S&#x3e;500, L&#x3e;4&#x221a;(S/&#x3c0;), an internal pressure of the chamber during melting being 0.8 atm or more, a pulling down speed of the base material being 10 mm/min or less.

Method for producing platinum group alloy

A spark plug has a center electrode and an earth electrode. The center electrode is faced to the earth electrode so that a spark discharging gap is formed between the center electrode and the earth electrode. An electrode chip is formed on at least one of the center electrode and the earth electrode. The electrode chip has a composition containing 40 to 60 mol % of aluminum and iridium as a remainder thereof. In the composition of the electrode chip, it is possible to replace part of the iridium with 1 to 20 mol % of at least one metal selected from nickel, iron, cobalt, platinum and rhodium.

Spark plug for internal combustion engine of motor vehicles

A spark plug for use in an internal combustion engine has a center electrode, an earth electrode, and an electrode chip formed on at least one of the center electrode and the earth electrode. A spark discharge gap is formed between the center electrode and the earth electrode. The electrode chip has a base section, a chromium rich layer formed on at least a part of the base section, and a diffusion layer formed between the base section and the chromium rich layer. The base section contains chromium within a range of 5 to 45 mass %, an element X within a range of 0.5 to 25 mass %, and a remainder composed of tungsten and unavoidable impurity. The chromium rich layer is larger in content of chromium than the base section. The element X contained in the base section is comprised of at least one of molybdenum, silicon, aluminum and lead.

Growing community of inventors

Soka, Japan

Yoshinori Doi