Claims
- 1. A method for forming a glass-to-metal seal, comprising the steps of:
- (a) placing in a vacuum injection mold a formed metal part to be sealed;
- (b) heating a glass having a melting point greater than the melting point of said metal to a temperature greater than said glass melting point, thus melting said glass;
- (c) vacuum injecting said molten glass into said mold to effect the seal.
- 2. A method as in claim 1, further comprising, prior to injecting said molten glass into said mold, the step of preheating said mold to a temperature lower than said metal melting point.
- 3. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said metal is aluminum, said glass is a lithia-alumina-silica glass having a glass melting point of 960.degree. C., and said glass temperature is about 1,250.degree. C.
- 4. A method as claimed in claim 2, wherein said metal is aluminum, said glass is a lithia-alumina-silica glass having a glass melting point of about 960.degree. C., said glass temperature is about 1,250.degree. C., and said mold preheat temperature is about 250.degree. C.
Government Interests
The United States Government has rights in this invention pursuant to Contract No. DE-AC04-76DP00053 between the United States Department of Energy and Monsanto Research Corporation.
US Referenced Citations (5)