PROCESS FOR PRODUCING PARTICLES AND ARTICLES HAVING ENGINEERED PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AND FOR COATING AN OBJECT, AS WELL AS RESULTING PARTICLES AND ARTICLES

摘要

The invention relates to a process for producing particles and articles having engineered physical properties and for coating an object, as well as to particles and articles produced thereby. According to the invention, a plurality of particles (12) containing a first material is supplied in a first stage. A coating (14) containing a second material is formed on the surface of the particles, until a selected ratio between the volume of the coating (14) and the volume of the particles (12) is reached. A plurality of particles (28) including coated particles (10) is consolidated in such a manner that the particles are joined to each other to form an article (30). The ratio between the volume of the coating (14) and the volume of the particles (12) is selected in such a manner that the article (30) is engineered to have a certain volume fraction, presenting the volume of the second material in the article relative to the volume of the first material in the article. The first material, the second material and volume fraction are selected in such a manner that the article exhibit one certain intrinsic property.