# US 10,118,220 B2 · Mold assemblies used for fabricating downhole tools > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,118,220 B2 - Document ID: US10118220B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 14/896,735 - Filed: 2014-12-02 - Published: 2016-10-13 - Granted: 2018-11-06 - Earliest claimed: 2014-12-02 - Assignees: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. - Applicants: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. - Inventors: Jeffrey G. Thomas; Clayton Arthur Ownby; Grant O. Cook, III; Garrett T. Olsen; Daniel Brendan Voglewede - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10118220B2 ## CPC - B22D 27/045: {Directionally solidified castings} - B22C 9/065: {Cooling or heating equipment for moulds} - B22F 3/02: Compacting only - B22F 3/26: Impregnating {(making ferrous alloys by impregnation C22C33/0242)} - C22C 29/06: based on carbides, but not containing other metal compounds - B22F 2005/001: {Cutting tools, earth boring or grinding tool other than table ware} - B22F 2007/066: {using impregnation} - B22F 2203/11: temperature, temperature profile - B22F 2999/00: Aspects linked to processes or compositions used in powder metallurgy - B22D: CASTING OF METALS; CASTING OF OTHER SUBSTANCES BY THE SAME PROCESSES OR DEVICES (shaping of plastics or substances in a plastic state B29C; metallurgical processing, selection of substances to be added to metal C21, C22) - B22C: FOUNDRY MOULDING (moulding refractory materials in general B28B) - B22F: WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER (making alloys by powder metallurgy C22C); APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER - C22C: ALLOYS (treatment of alloys C21D, C22F) ## Abstract An example mold assembly for fabricating an infiltrated downhole tool includes a mold forming a bottom of the mold assembly, and a funnel operatively coupled to the mold and having an inner wall, an outer wall, and a cavity defined between the inner and outer walls. An infiltration chamber is defined at least partially by the mold and the funnel. The inner wall faces the infiltration chamber and the outer wall forms at least a portion of an outer periphery of the mold assembly. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method, comprising: placing a mold assembly within a furnace, the mold assembly including a mold forming a bottom of the mold assembly, a funnel operatively coupled to the mold, and an infiltration chamber defined at least partially by the mold and the funnel, wherein the funnel provides an inner wall, an outer wall, and a cavity defined and closed to contain a gas between the inner and outer walls, and wherein the inner wall faces the infiltration chamber and the outer wall forms at least a portion of an outer periphery of the mold assembly; removing the mold assembly from the furnace to cool molten contents disposed within the infiltration chamber; and varying a thermal profile of the molten contents with the funnel and thereby facilitating directional solidification of the molten contents. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the cavity is filled at least partially with a thermal material, the thermal material being selected from the group consisting of a ceramic, a ceramic-fiber blanket, a polymer, a metal, an insulating metal composite, a carbon, a nanocomposite, a glass, a foam, any composite thereof, and any combination thereof, and wherein varying the thermal profile of the molten contents with the funnel comprises varying a thermal property of the mold assembly along a height of the funnel with the thermal material. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the thermal material is a metal, a salt, or a ceramic in the form of at least one of beads, cubes, pellets, particulates, a powder, flakes, fibers, wools, a woven fabric, a bulked fabric, sheets, bricks, stones, blocks, cast shapes, molded shapes, sprayed insulation, any hybrid thereof, and any combination thereof, and wherein varying the thermal profile of the molten contents with the funnel comprises: absorbing thermal energy with the thermal material while the mold assembly is in the furnace; and providing latent heat from the thermal material to the molten contents when the mold assembly is removed from the furnace. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein a reflective coating is disposed within the cavity and applied to or adjacent a surface of one or both of the inner and outer walls, the method further comprising reflecting thermal energy emitted from the molten contents back toward the molten contents with the reflective coating. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein a thermal barrier is disposed within the cavity and applied to or adjacent a surface of one or both of the inner and outer walls, the method further comprising increasing a thermal resistance of the funnel with the thermal barrier. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the cavity is filled at least partially with a thermal material and wherein varying the thermal profile of the molten contents with the funnel comprises providing latent heat from the thermal material to the molten contents as the thermal material undergoes an exothermic chemical reaction. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the cavity is filled at least partially with a thermal material and wherein varying the thermal profile of the molten contents with the funnel comprises providing latent heat as the thermal material undergoes an allotropic phase change. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the mold assembly further comprises one or more of a gauge ring interposing the mold and the funnel, a binder bowl positioned above the funnel, and a cap positionable on the binder bowl, and wherein the cavity is a first cavity and at least one of the mold, the gauge ring, the binder bowl, and the cap defines a second cavity filled at least partially with a thermal material, the method further comprising: varying the thermal profile of the molten contents with the thermal material disposed within the second cavity and thereby facilitating directional solidification of the molten contents.