Process for the production of self-supporting bodies with controlled porosity and graded properties

摘要

This invention relates generally to a novel method of preparing self-supporting bodies and to the novel products made thereby. In its more specific aspects, this invention relates to a method of producing self-supporting bodies comprising one or more boron-containing compounds, e.g., a boride or a boride and a carbide, by reacting, in one embodiment, a powdered parent metal, in molten form, with a bed or mass comprising a boron carbide material and, optionally, one or more inert fillers, to form the body. In another embodiment, both of a powdered parent metal and a body or pool of molten parent metal are induced to react with a bed or mass comprising a boron carbide material, and, optionally, one or more inert fillers.