Assembly for making ceramic composite structures and method of using the same

摘要

An assembly for the preparation of ceramic composite structures includes a segmented container (12) within which a permeable filler is retained and a parent metal body (20) is contacted with the bed (18) of permeable filler. The segmented container (12) is comprised of one or more segments made of a material, such as an Inconel alloy, which has a coefficient of thermal expansion which is significantly greater than that of the filler. The segments are arranged to define between or among them one or more expansion joints which are effective to accommodate circumferential thermal expansion of the segments to thereby inhibit or prevent volumetric expansion of the container (12). A method of forming ceramic composite structures includes heating the resulting assembly to melt and oxidize the parent metal, (20), e.g., aluminum, to form a polycrystalline material comprising an oxidation reaction product which grows through the mass of filler to embed it and thus form the composite structure.