Patent ID: 9327385
Filing Date: 2016-05-03
CPC Classification: B01J,B22F,B24D,C04B,C22C

Claim Text:
1. A method of making a near-net superhard material body, comprising: preparing a slurry from a mixture of materials comprising diamond, silicon, binders, and fluids; drying the slurry to remove the fluids and to form granules; compacting the granules to form a soft green body of defined shape; heating the soft green body in a furnace to remove at least a portion of the binder from the soft green body and to induce a physical reaction or a chemical reaction in a portion of the diamond and the silicon, thereby forming a hard green body; embedding one or more of the hard green bodies in a containment powder and compacting the containment powder to form a containment means, the containment powder comprising solid material selected from the group of graphite, sintered cermet and combinations thereof; sintering the hard green bodies that are positioned within the containment means in a high pressure and high temperature process and providing additional silicon that infiltrates the hard green bodies, wherein the diamond reacts with the silicon introduced in the slurry and during the high pressure and high temperature process to form silicon carbide that bonds diamonds in one or more near-net bodies from the hard green bodies.