Patent ID: 7879285

Claim:
A process for fabrication of cermets comprising of a ceramic powder infiltrated with a molten metal or metal alloy, said process comprising: (a) producing a ceramic preform matrix of a desired shape having a porosity from 30% to less than 50% by presintering a predetermined ceramic powder, said ceramic powder further comprising particles of the same sizes from greater than 10μ to about 50μ and selected from the group consisting of any one or a mixture of aluminum oxide, aluminum nitride, aluminum boride, aluminum silicate, hafnium oxide, hafnium nitride, hafnium boride, hafnium silicate, vanadium oxide, vanadium nitride, vanadium boride, vanadium silicate, beryllium oxide, beryllium nitride, beryllium borate and beryllium silicate, said particle sizes and said group selected in combination so that said particles remain of the same size following presintering; and (b) molten metal infiltrating said ceramic preform matrix of step (a) with a metal selected from the group consisting of titanium, nickel, magnesium, calcium, aluminum, lithium, copper, iron, silicon, manganese, cobalt, molybdenum, niobium, zirconium, and their combination wherein said selected metal has a melting point lower than a presintering temperature of said ceramic powder of step (a) to enable a molten metal or a molten metal alloy infiltration into said ceramic preform matrix at a temperature lower than said presintering temperature.