Patent ID: 7918382

Claim:
A method for attaching a porous metal structure to a metal substrate, the method comprising: providing a solid metal substrate of a first mass; providing the porous metal structure; contouring a surface of the porous metal structure; placing the porous structure against the substrate such that the contoured surface of the porous metal structure is disposed against the substrate, thereby forming an assembly; applying heat and pressure to the assembly in conjunction with thermal expansion of the substrate in order to metallurgically bond the porous structure and the substrate; and changing the shape of the substrate by removing mass from the substrate to form the substrate having a second mass after the porous structure is bonded to the substrate, thereby finish processing the assembly, the first mass being significantly greater than the second mass, whereby the substrate of the first mass exhibits greater thermal expansion when heated than would the substrate of the second mass; wherein changing the shape of the substrate comprises forming an indentation in a surface of the substrate; and wherein the surface of the substrate is located substantially within a plane such that the indentation in the surface of the substrate extends toward a side of the plane, the porous metal structure enveloping the substrate on the side of the plane containing the indentation.