A method of producing a graphite-containing refractory within which carbon fiber bundles are placed, the graphite constituting 1% to 80% by mass, the method including a bundling step of bundling carbon fibers to form the carbon fiber bundles; a mixing step of mixing a refractory raw material with graphite to prepare a graphite-containing refractory raw material; a pressing step of pressing the graphite-containing refractory raw material in which the carbon fiber bundles are placed to prepare a formed product; and a drying step of drying the pressed product, wherein the bundling step includes bundling 1000 to 300000 of the carbon fibers with a fiber diameter of 1 to 45 μm/fiber to form carbon fiber bundles 100 mm or more in length.

A method to form a displacement, the method including disposing a powder blend comprising a plurality of ground ceramic particles and a plurality of ground resin particles into a mold, densifying the powder blend while in the mold, heating the mold to form a first displacement, impregnating said first displacement with a polymer precursor compound to form a second displacement, and heating the second displacement to form a third displacement.

Improved formulations of an interface material are described. These formulations may, in at least some cases, match and/or accommodate dimensional changes in the part and/or support structure throughout thermal processing (e.g., debind and sintering, or sintering only). Furthermore, these formulations may also maintain the property of resisting bonding between the interface and the part and/or support structure while also maintaining a physical separation between the part and support structure. In some cases, an improved interface material may accommodate strain associated with the shrinkage of a part (and optionally support structure) during sintering while also minimally impacting the ability of the part (and optionally support structure) to shrink or otherwise change in dimension. In some cases, the interface material may include one or more fugitive phases that are removed during thermal processing (e.g., through pyrolysis of the fugitive phase(s)).

A graphite-containing refractory has higher bending strength and fracture energy than known refractories. The graphite-containing refractory has a graphite content of 1% to 80% by mass. 1000 to 300000 carbon fibers with a fiber diameter of 1 to 45 μm/fiber are bundled. The carbon fiber bundle has a length of 100 mm or more and is placed within the graphite-containing refractory to form the same.

A method of producing a graphite-containing refractory within which carbon fiber bundles are placed, the graphite constituting 1% to 80% by mass, the method including a bundling step of bundling carbon fibers to form the carbon fiber bundles; a mixing step of mixing a refractory raw material with graphite to prepare a graphite-containing refractory raw material; a pressing step of pressing the graphite-containing refractory raw material in which the carbon fiber bundles are placed to prepare a formed product; and a drying step of drying the pressed product, wherein the bundling step includes bundling 1000 to 300000 of the carbon fibers with a fiber diameter of 1 to 45 μm/fiber to form carbon fiber bundles 100 mm or more in length.

Articles and methods of making and using the articles are provided. The articles include inorganic agglomerates having an average dimension in a range from about 50 microns to about 2 mm. The porous agglomerates each include a network of carbon or silica, and metal oxide particles embedded in the network. Some agglomerates are capable of lowering a resonant frequency of an acoustic device when the resonant frequency is in a range from about 50 Hz to about 1500 Hz.

A graphite-containing refractory has higher bending strength and fracture energy than known refractories. The graphite-containing refractory has a graphite content of 1% to 80% by mass. 1000 to 300000 carbon fibers with a fiber diameter of 1 to 45 m/fiber are bundled. The carbon fiber bundle has a length of 100 mm or more and is placed within the graphite-containing refractory to form the same.

A method to form a displacement includes disposing a powder blend (comprising a plurality of ground ceramic particles and a plurality of ground resin particles) into a mold, densifying the powder blend while in the mold, heating the mold to form a first displacement, impregnating said first displacement with a polymer precursor compound to form a second displacement, and heating the second displacement to form a third displacement.

Articles and methods of making and using the articles are provided. The articles include inorganic agglomerates having an average dimension in a range from about 50 microns to about 2 mm. The porous agglomerates each include a network of carbon or silica, and metal oxide particles embedded in the network. Some agglomerates are capable of lowering a resonant frequency of an acoustic device when the resonant frequency is in a range from about 50 Hz to about 1500 Hz.

A castable refractory composition may include from 5% to 95% by weight of alumina, aluminosilicate, or mixtures thereof; from 0.5% to 1.5% by weight alkaline earth metal oxide and/or hydroxide, and 0.1% to 5% by weight of silica having a surface area of at least about 10 m.sup.2/g. The refractory composition may include no more than 0.5% by weight of cementitious binder. The refractory composition may release less than 25 cm.sup.3 of hydrogen gas per kilogram of castable refractory composition upon addition of water. The refractory compositions may set on addition of water.