Sinter bonded containment tube
AssigneeSaint-Gobain Ceramics & Plastics, Inc.
InventorsLawrence M. Banach, John M. Bevilacqua, Steven W. Lanzone
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A containment tube includes a sealed tube comprising silicon carbide, first and second ends, an inner bore extending along at least a portion of its axial length between the first and second ends, and contains a radioactive material within the bore of the sealed tube. The first end has a plug residing in the inner bore to close the first end, and the second end has a distal wall that closes the inner bore at the second. At least one of the first or second ends is bonded to the sealed tube by a sinter bond.
Claims19
A containment tube comprising:
- a sintered tube comprising silicon carbide;
- a generally constant diameter along an axial length of the sintered tube;
- and
- a plug comprising silicon carbide, wherein the plug is sinter-bonded to the sintered tube,
- wherein the sintered tube is sealed.
A containment tube comprising:
- a tube comprising silicon carbide and having a first end, a closed second end, and an inner bore extending between the first end and the second end;
- and
- a plug sinter-bonded to an inner wall of the tube proximate to the first end of the tube and configured to close the first end of the tube.
A method of forming a containment tube, comprising:
- providing a green ceramic tube having a first end that is unsealed and a second end that is sealed;
- partially sintering the green ceramic tube, leaving the first end unsintered or incompletely sintered;
- inserting a sintered plug into the first end;
- and
- sealing the first end by sintering the first end together with the sintered plug.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.