Patent ID: 7900812

Claim:
A method of physically bonding two parts to each other comprising the steps of: a) providing a first part in contact with a second part, the first part having a top surface and a bottom surface with an opening extending between the top surface and the bottom surface, and the second part having a top surface of the first part in contact with the bottom surface of the first part adjacent the opening, each of the first and the second parts formed from a metal, an alloy, or a mixture of a metal and an alloy; b) providing particles of a powder, the particles formed from a metal, an alloy, or a mixture thereof; c) entraining the particles in a flow of a heated main gas and heating the particles to a temperature below their melting temperature; and d) directing the entrained particles through a converging diverging supersonic nozzle into the opening formed in the first part, accelerating the particles to a velocity sufficient to result in adherence of the particles on the first and the second parts positioned opposite the nozzle, thereby physically bonding the first and the second parts to each other.