Process for guiding rapid development of novel cermets

In an apparatus selected from a computer, a computer system, and a data storage device, a computer-implemented, rapid method for screening candidate metallic material for use as a binder in a sintering process for manufacturing articles including material comprising a second phase of a metal, metal alloy, at least one ceramic or mixtures thereof in a binder matrix of a metallic binder, the method comprising:

• providing a list of elements to be considered for use in potential materials for use in the metallic binder to a computer executing the method;
• providing a computer model including equations and data for calculating at least one of the surface tension and the contact angle to determine the wetting characteristics with respect to the second phase, the viscosity, and the capillary metric for a plurality of the potential materials and for implementing a computerized thermodynamic model for determining the melting point for the plurality of the potential materials;
• delineating a design space comprising at least one of the list of elements and a list of element combinations and the ranges for proportions of the elements in each combination that are potential materials for use in the metallic binder, wherein each potential material at least has a capillary metric and a viscosity in the liquid state, and each potential material has a melting temperature;
• calculating at least one of the surface tension and the contact angle to determine the wetting characteristics with respect to the second phase, the viscosity, the capillary metric, and determining the melting point using the computerized thermodynamic model for the plurality of the potential materials;
• and
• selecting one or more of the plurality of the potential materials that have at least one of its surface tension and its contact angle with the second phase lying within a corresponding one of a predetermined surface tension range and a predetermined contact angle range, that have viscosities that are within a predetermined viscosity range, that have capillary metrics that are within a predetermined capillary metric range, and that have melting points that are within a predetermined melting point range to a first set of screened potential materials so that a user can select the metallic binder material from the first set of screened potential materials.

A method for forming a composition comprising a second phase of a metal, metal alloy, at least one ceramic or mixtures thereof in a binder matrix of a metallic binder, and a beneficial, supplementary metal carbide that is a carbide of a metal element, wherein the binder matrix of the metallic binder constitutes a first phase at least in part, and wherein the supplementary metal carbide is different from the second phase, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing the second phase made of a desired material selected from the metal, metal alloy, at least one ceramic or mixtures thereof, wherein the second phase comprises a non-continuous spatial arrangement wherein there are spaces interspersed among spatial regions occupied by the second phase;
• selecting a metallic binder material for the metallic binder that includes the metal element of the supplementary metal carbide;
• providing the metallic binder material;
• melting the metallic binder material to form a liquid binder in order to allow the liquid binder to at least in part fill the spaces between the regions of the second phase, wherein a mixture formed at least in part from the second phase and the liquid binder, and which is being processed according to the method to form the composition comprising the second phase in the binder matrix of the metallic binder, contains an amount of carbon either from adding free carbon or from the second phase if it is a carbide;
• and
• allowing the liquid binder to solidify to form the binder matrix of the metallic binder,
• wherein the metal element of the supplementary metal carbide and at least some of the carbon together form an amount of the supplementary metal carbide such that addition of the supplementary metal carbide as a separate component is not required.