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US 5,296,416 AGranted
Method for producing ceramic composite foams
AssigneeLanxide Technology Company, LP
InventorsEugene S. Park, Steven D. Poste
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Ceramic foams in which the open cells are connected by a three-dimensional, substantially continuous ceramic matrix formed of interconnected hollow ligaments, are made from an open-cell, reticulated precursor metal, i.e. a metal foam. The precursor metal first is treated so as to allow a support coating to form thereon, and thereafter the coated precursor is heated above the melting point of the metal in the presence of an oxidant to form an oxidation reaction product.
Claims18
A method of producing a ceramic composite article comprising:
- (a) providing a parent metal foam body comprised of metallic ligaments interconnected randomly in three dimensions to constitute an open-cell reticulated structure, the external surfaces of said ligaments defining open channels interconnected randomly in three dimensions;
- (b) providing at least a portion of said external surfaces of said ligaments with a permeable layer of substantially inert filler material;
- (c) treating said precursor metal foam body, at a temperature below the melting point of said metal, for forming on the surface of said ligaments a support coating which maintains the integrity of the open-cell structure when said body is heated to a temperature above the melting point of the metal;
- (d) heating the treated body in the presence of an oxidant to a temperature above the melting point of the metal but below the melting point of an oxidation reaction product of the precursor metal and the oxidant to melt the precursor metal and reacting said molten precursor metal with the oxidant to form the oxidation reaction product within and optionally beyond said support coating and into said filler material, to form an open-cell ceramic composite foam having essentially the open-cell reticulated structure of said metal body;
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- (e) cooling said body and recovering said ceramic composite article.
3 more elements
A method of producing a ceramic composite article comprising:
- (a) providing a precursor metal foam body comprised of metallic ligaments interconnected randomly in three dimensions to constitute an open-cell reticulated structure, the external surfaces of said ligaments defining open channels interconnected randomly in three dimensions;
- (b) providing at least a portion of said external surfaces of said ligaments with a permeable layer of substantially inert filler material;
- (c) treating said precursor metal foam body, at a temperature below the melting point of said metal, for forming on the surface of said ligaments a support coating which maintains the integrity of the open-cell structure when said body is heated to a temperature above the melting point of the metal;
- (d) heating the treated body in the presence of a vapor-phase oxidant, comprising a gas selected from the group consisting of an oxygen-containing gas and a nitrogen-containing gas, to a temperature above the melting point of the metal but below the melting point of an oxidation reaction product of the precursor metal and the oxidant to melt the precursor metal and reacting said molten precursor metal with the oxidant to form the oxidation reaction product within and optionally beyond said support coating and into said filler material, to form an open-cell ceramic composite foam comprising the open-cell reticulated structure of said metal body;
- and
- (e) cooling said body and recovering said ceramic composite article.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.