A seal includes a metal composite that has a cellular nanomatrix that includes a metallic nanomatrix material, a metal matrix disposed in the cellular nanomatrix, and a disintegration agent; an inner sealing surface; and an outer sealing surface disposed radially from the inner sealing surface. The seal can be prepared by combining a metal matrix powder, a disintegration agent, and metal nanomatrix material to form a composition; compacting the composition to form a compacted composition; sintering the compacted composition; and pressing the sintered composition to form the seal.

Methods of forming at least a portion of an earth-boring tool include providing particulate matter including a hard material in a mold cavity, melting a metal and the hard material to form a molten composition comprising a eutectic or near-eutectic composition of the metal and the hard material, casting the molten composition to form the at least a portion of an earth-boring tool within the mold cavity, and providing an inoculant within the mold cavity. Methods of forming a roller cone of an earth-boring rotary drill bit include forming a molten composition, casting the molten composition within a mold cavity, solidifying the molten composition to form the roller cone, and controlling grain growth using an inoculant as the molten composition solidifies. Articles including components of earth-boring tools are fabricated using such methods.

[Object] Provided is a metal-based material having a high hardness.

[Solution] A metal-based composite material of the present invention is formed from a sintered body obtained from Ti material powder, Mo material powder, Ni material powder, and ceramics powder, and 0.1 to 9 parts by mass of Ni is contained with respect to 100 parts by mass of the entirety of the metal-based composite material.

Provided is a method for manufacturing an Al alloy that includes Cu and C, by a manufacturing method provided with a step for adding graphite particles, and particles of a carbonization promoter containing boron or a boron compound, to Al molten metal that includes Cu.

In one aspect, methods of making freestanding metal matrix composite articles and alloy articles are described. A method of making a freestanding composite article described herein comprises disposing over a surface of the temporary substrate a layered assembly comprising a layer of infiltration metal or alloy and a hard particle layer formed of a flexible sheet comprising organic binder and the hard particles. The layered assembly is heated to infiltrate the hard particle layer with metal or alloy providing a metal matrix composite, and the metal matrix composite is separated from the temporary substrate. Further, a method of making a freestanding alloy article described herein comprises disposing over the surface of a temporary substrate a flexible sheet comprising organic binder and powder alloy and heating the sheet to provide a sintered alloy article. The sintered alloy article is then separated from the temporary substrate.

To provide a press-fitting, sintered valve seat having excellent valve coolability enabling use in high-efficiency engines, as well as excellent deformation resistance and wear resistance, first and second hard particles differing in hardness are dispersed in a total amount of 25-70% by mass in a network-shaped Cu matrix, the second hard particles having hardness of 300-650 HV0.1, lower than that of the first hard particles, and 0.08-2.2% by mass of P is contained in the sintered valve seat.

A sintered friction material is formed by pressure sintering mixed powder at 800 C. or above, the mixed powder consisting of, in mass %, Cu and/or Cu alloy: 40.0 to 80.0%, Ni: 0% or more and less than 5.0%, Sn: 0 to 10.0%, Zn: 0 to 10.0%, VC: 0.5 to 5.0%, Fe and/or Fe alloy: 2.0 to 40.0%, lubricant: 5.0 to 30.0%, metal oxide and/or metal nitride: 1.5 to 30.0%, and the balance being impurity.

An article comprises a bulk layer of an aluminum-alloy composite and a surface layer. The bulk layer comprises an aggregate dispersed in an aluminum-alloy matrix, the aggregate being solid and unreactive in a melt of the aluminum-alloy matrix, and having an average particle size of 100 microns or less. The surface layer comprises an anodized form of the bulk layer.

We have developed a scalable approach to directly incorporate grain-refining nanoparticles into conventional hot-tear-susceptible pure aluminum or aluminum alloy powders. These aluminum alloy powders may be additively manufactured into high-strength, crack-free aluminum alloys with fine equiaxed microstructures by incorporating nanoparticle nucleants to control solidification during additive manufacturing. Some variations provide an additively manufactured aluminum alloy comprising aluminum and at least one grain-refining element, wherein the additively manufactured aluminum alloy has a microstructure with equiaxed grains. Pure aluminum or aluminum alloys, combined with grain refiners, are useful in many processes beyond additive manufacturing. Some variations provide an aluminum alloy comprising aluminum and grain-refining nanoparticles selected from zirconium, tantalum, niobium, or titanium, wherein the aluminum alloy has a microstructure that is substantially crack-free with equiaxed grains.

The present disclosure provides additives capable of undergoing a peritectic reaction with boron in aluminum-boron carbide composite materials. The additive may be selected from the group consisting of vanadium, zirconium, niobium, strontium, chromium, molybdenum, hafnium, scandium, tantalum, tungsten and combination thereof, is used to maintain the fluidity of the molten composite material, prior to casting, to facilitate castability.