Patent ID: 7691173

Claim:
A consolidated material mass, comprising: a rapidly consolidated and subliquidus sintered composite material comprising a plurality of hard particles cemented in and in direct contact with a binder, the plurality of hard particles selected from boron carbide and carbides and borides of the group consisting of W, Ti, Mo, Nb, V, Hf, Ta, Zr, and Cr, and the binder including a material selected from the group consisting of iron-based alloys, nickel-based alloys, iron and nickel-based alloys, iron and cobalt-based alloys, aluminum-based alloys, copper-based alloys, magnesium-based alloys, titanium-based alloys, commercially pure aluminum, commercially pure copper, commercially pure magnesium, commercially pure titanium, commercially pure iron and commercially pure nickel, wherein the consolidated material mass exhibits substantially the same coefficient of thermal expansion as is exhibited by the binder in a macrostructural state.