METAL MATRIX COMPOSITES. A Study of Patents, Patent Applications and Other Literature

Transcription

1 METAL MATRIX COMPOSITES A Study of Patents, Patent Applications and Other Literature

2 METAL MATRIX COMPOSITES A Study of Patents, Patent Applications and Other Literature Edited by SEBASTIAAN A. GIESKES and MARTEN TERPSTRA The Hague, The Netherlands ELSEVIER APPLIED SCIENCE LONDON and NEW YORK

3 instructions ELSEVIER SCIENCE PUBLISHERS LTD Crown House, Linton Road, Barking, Essex IGll 8JU, England Sole Distributor in the USA and Canada ELSEVIER SCIENCE PUBLISHING CO., INC. 655 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10010, USA WITH 28 TABLES AND 64 ILLUSTRATIONS 1991 ELSEVIER SCIENCE PUBLISHERS LTD British Libory Cataloguing in Publiattion Data Metal matrix composites. 1. Construction materials I. Gieskes, Sebastiaan A. II. Terpstra, Marten ISBN X Libory of Congress CIP data applied for No responsibility is assumed by the Publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, 0 or ideas contained in the material herein. Special regulations for readers in the USA This publication has been registered with the Copyright Clearance Centre Inc. (CCC), Salem, Massachusetts. Information can be obtained from the CCC about conditions under which photocopies of parts of this publication may be made in the USA. All other copyright questions, including photocopying outside the USA, should be referred to the publisher. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

4 v INTRODUCTION The present study of patents and patent applications published in the United States, Japan and the countries of Western Europe, and of other technological literature published since about 1980, is the result of a comprehensive analysis of documents which reveal various processes for reinforcing composite materials by metals, the atoms of which have been arranged according to predetermined matrices. Pre-searches were conducted by the Patent Information Office of TNO in Rijswijk, The Netherlands, which also provided copies of the documents needed to carry out the analysis. The International Patent Classification System (IPC) was employed to determine proper entries to the documents on the respective subject-matter. These classes are: C 22 C 1/09 /09B /09C /09D /09F /09F2 /09F4 relating to alloys containing metallic or non-metallic fibres or filaments; by subjecting to pressure and heat an assembly comprising at least one metal layer or sheet and one layer of fibres or filaments; by contacting the filaments or fibres with molten metal, e.g. by impregnation; by using a powder-metallurgical method; characterized by the material used respectively for the metal matrix or the reinforcing fibres; matrix formed of a light metal such as AI, Mg, Be, Ti; matrix formed of a refractory metal such as Ni, Co, Cr, Mo. Classifying patents or patent applications is actually a very difficult matter, particularly when it has to deal with processes for the production of composites, metal alloys or pharmaceuticals. Although, generally speak,ing, classifying such materials could be effected by arranging them according to their basic components having the highest percentages by weight in the material, it is well known in the art that the properties of such materials can be substantially changed by adding small or very small amounts of additives different from those basic materials. As a consequence, the editors have systematized their analysis according to the major ingredients present in the composites, but they have added sub-headings referring to those additives which may substantially change the properties of the respective composite.

5 vi The present literature analysis comprises approximately 200 primary patents and patent applications, covering substantially the prior art situation of the subject-matter since about 1980, and also covers a number of articles from journals which were partly derived from the introductory sections of the patent specifications studied or else from the results of a computer search at the Technical University, Delft, The Netherlands. The editors are grateful to those colleagues who were very cooperative in selecting proper documents, particularly but not exclusively to the colleagues of the Patent Information Office of TNO mentioned above. Finally, the editors and the publishers of the present study owe their gratitude to the officials of the Commission of European Community, Directorate-General XIII, Luxembourg, who were prepared to contribute to the cost of conducting the analysis. SEBASTIAAN A. GIESKES MARTEN TERPSTRA

6 vii CONTENTS Introduction v 1.0 Reinforced Composites of Aluminium and/or Magnesium Reinforced Aluminium Composites Reinforced Aluminium and/or Magnesium-Based Composites Reinforced Magnesium Composites Reinforced Composites Based on Titanium Reinforced Composites Based on Copper Reinforced Composites Based on Miscellaneous Metals Miscellaneous Reinforced Metal Based Composites: Cu, W, Mo, Fe, Ni, Co: A120 3, Si 3N 4, Zr02, W Apparatus and/or Procedures for the Fabrication of Reinforced Metal Composites Miscellaneous Composites Cu-Based Composites Ti-Based Composites Miscellaneous Concerning Fibres for the Fabrication of Reinforced Metal Composites Cermets Applications of Reinforced Metal Composites Miscellaneous Applications Applications of Reinforced Aluminium Composites Applications of Reinforced Composites Based on Aluminium or Magnesium Applications of Composites Based on Copper Applications of Composites Based on Silver Applications of Reinforced Composites Based on Iron or Steel Cermets Reinforced by TiC, WC, or TaC Abbreviations Used List of Patentees