Surface coating for metal matrix composites
AssigneeHalliburton Energy Services, Inc.
InventorGrant O. Cook, III
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of fabricating a metal matrix composite (MMC) tool includes coating at least a portion of an interior of a mold assembly with one or more layers of a material coating, where the mold assembly defines at least a portion of an infiltration chamber. Reinforcing materials are deposited into the infiltration chamber, and infiltrated with a binder material. One or more layers of the material coating may then be reacted with the binder material to form an outer shell on selected outer surfaces of the MMC tool.
Claims23
A method of fabricating a metal matrix composite (MMC) tool, comprising:
- coating at least a portion of an interior of a mold assembly with one or more layers of a material coating, the mold assembly defining at least a portion of an infiltration chamber;
- depositing reinforcing materials into the infiltration chamber;
- infiltrating the reinforcing materials with a binder material to form the MMC tool;
- and
- reacting at least one of the one or more layers of the material coating with the binder material and thereby forming an outer shell on selected outer surfaces of the MMC tool during infiltration, wherein reacting at least one of the one or more layers of the material coating with the binder material comprises at least one of alloying with, undergoing a chemical reaction, diffusing into, and inter-diffusing with and thereby forming at least one of an alloy, an intermetallic, and a ceramic in-situ.
A drill bit, comprising:
- a bit body comprising a reinforced composite material made by infiltrating reinforcement materials with a binder material;
- a plurality of cutting elements coupled to an exterior of the bit body;
- and
- an outer shell disposed on selected outer surfaces of the bit body, the outer shell being made from one or more layers of a material coating deposited on at least a portion of an interior of a mold assembly used to fabricate the drill bit, wherein the outer shell results from at least one of the one or more layers of the material coating reacting with the binder material during infiltration, wherein reacting the at least one of the one or more layers of the material coating with the binder material comprises at least one of alloying with, undergoing a chemical reaction, diffusing into, and inter-diffusing with and thereby forming at least one of an alloy, an intermetallic, and a ceramic in-situ.
A drilling assembly, comprising:
- a drill string extendable from a drilling platform and into a wellbore;
- a drill bit attached to an end of the drill string;
- and
- a pump fluidly connected to the drill string and configured to circulate a drilling fluid to the drill bit and through the wellbore, wherein the drill bit comprises:
- a bit body comprising a reinforced composite material made by infiltrating reinforcement materials with a binder material;
- a plurality of cutting elements coupled to an exterior of the bit body;
- and
- an outer shell disposed on selected outer surfaces of the bit body, the outer shell being made from one or more layers of a material coating deposited on at least a portion of an interior of a mold assembly used to fabricate the drill bit, wherein the outer shell results from at least one of the one or more layers of the material coating reacting with the binder material during infiltration, wherein reacting the at least one of the one or more layers of the material coating with the binder material comprises at least one of alloying with, undergoing a chemical reaction, diffusing into, and inter-diffusing with and thereby forming at least one of an alloy, an intermetallic, and a ceramic in-situ.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.