A sintered bearing has a structure in which NiP alloy particles having an average diameter of 10 to 100 m are dispersed in an amount of 1 to 20% by mass in a Cu-based sintered alloy base, a FeCu-based sintered alloy base or a CuNi-based sintered alloy base. The NiP alloy particles are derived from a raw material powder comprising 1 to 12% by mass of P; and a remainder composed of Ni and inevitable impurities. The Cu-based sintered alloy base contains no less than 40% by mass of Cu. The FeCu-based sintered alloy base contains no more than 50% by mass of Fe. The CuNi-based sintered alloy base contains 20 to 40% by mass of Ni and 0.1 to 1.0% by mass of P; or contains 10 to 25% by mass of Ni, 10 to 25% by mass of Zn and 0.1 to 1.0% by mass of P.

A powdered material preform includes a pressed powdered metal or other powdered material, where the preform is processed and sealed so that a skin or shell is formed at the outer surface of the preform (such as via melting an outer layer or surface of the preform or via adding an outer layer around the preform or via a combination thereof), with an inner portion of the preform comprising pressed powdered material. The skinned preform may comprise a shape that is generally similar to that of a final product or part to be formed, or may simply comprise a puck or shape of approximately the same mass of the shape being formed, and the skinned preform is suitable for use in subsequent densification and/or consolidation processes or combinations thereof to form the final, fully processed part.

Provided is a sputtering target which contains Na in high concentration and, despite this, is inhibited from discoloration, generating spots, and causing abnormal electrical discharge and which has high strength and rarely breaks. Also provided is a method for producing the sputtering target. The sputtering target has a component composition that contains 10 to 40 at % of Ga and 1.0 to 15 at % of Na as metal element components other than F, S, and Se, with the remainder composed of Cu and unavoidable impurities, wherein the Na is contained in the form of at least one Na compound selected from sodium fluoride, sodium sulfide, and sodium selenide. The sputtering target has a theoretical density ratio of 90% or higher, a flexural strength of 100 N/mm.sup.2 or higher, and a bulk resistivity of 1 m.Math.cm or less. The number of 0.05 mm.sup.2 or larger aggregates of the at least one of sodium fluoride, sodium sulfide, and sodium selenide present per cm.sup.2 area of the target surface is 1 or less on average.

Provided is a thermoelectric material including metal oxide powder and thermoelectric powder. Thus, an internal filling rate is improved so that a Peltier effect can be maximized according to the increase of electrical conductivity and a Seebeck coefficient and the reduction of thermal conductivity, thereby enabling the improvement of the figure of merit (ZT) of a thermoelectric element.

A downhole tool and a method for fracturing a well, of which the method includes running downhole tool into a wellbore, the downhole tool including a ball seat including a dissolvable material and a protective layer that substantially prevents the dissolvable material from dissolving, and deploying an obstructing member into the wellbore. The obstructing member is caught by the ball seat. The method also includes performing one or more fracturing operations while the obstructing member engages the ball seat. Performing the one or more fracturing operations comprises introducing an abrading fluid to the ball seat, and the abrading fluid erodes at least a portion of the protective layer from the ball seat. The method also includes, after eroding the at least a portion of the protective layer, causing the dissolvable material of the ball seat to at least partially dissolve.

A method of treating a formation includes, setting a treating plug within a structure, withdrawing a mandrel from the treating plug after having set the treating plug, maintaining the setting of the treating plug within the structure without a member extending longitudinally through the treating plug, pumping fluid against a plug seated at the treating plug, treating a formation upstream of the treating plug, and disintegrating at least a portion of the treating plug.

A high-quality porous aluminum sintered compact, which can be produced efficiently at a low cost; has an excellent dimensional accuracy with a low shrinkage ratio during sintering; and has sufficient strength, and a method of producing the porous aluminum sintered compact are provided. The porous aluminum sintered compact is the porous aluminum sintered compact that includes aluminum substrates sintered each other. The junction, in which the aluminum substrates are bonded each other, includes the TiAl compound and the eutectic element compound capable of eutectic reaction with Al. It is preferable that the pillar-shaped protrusions projecting toward the outside are formed on outer surfaces of the aluminum substrates, and the pillar-shaped protrusions include the junction.

The present invention is related to hierarchical composite wear component comprising a reinforced part, said reinforced part comprising a reinforcement of a triply periodic minimal surface ceramic lattice structure, said structure comprising multiple cell units, said cell units comprising voids and micro-porous ceramic cell walls, the micro-pores of the cell walls comprising a sinter metal or a cast metal, the ceramic lattice structure being embedded in a bi-continuous structure with a cast metal matrix.