Self-sintered silicon carbide/carbon graphite composite material having interconnected pores which may be impregnated and raw batch and process for producing same

摘要

A self-sintered silicon carbide/carbon-graphite composite material having interconnected pores which may be impregnated, and a raw batch and process for producing the composite material, is provided. The composite material comprises a densified, self-sintered matrix of silicon carbide, carbon-graphite inclusions and small amounts of any residual sintering aids, such as boron and free carbon, and has interconnected pores which may be impregnated with resin, carbon, TEFLON, metal or other compounds or materials selected for their particular properties to achieve desired tribological characteristics for a specific application. The composite material is produced from a raw batch which includes silicon carbide, sintering aids, a temporary filler and coated graphite particles. The raw batch is then molded/shaped into a green body and heated to carbonize any carbonizable materials and to decompose and volatilize the organic filler to form a matrix of interconnected pores. The green body is pressureless sintered to densify the matrix. The interconnected pores may then be impregnated with a resin, carbon, metal, TEFLON, compound or other material selected for desired tribological characteristics.