Claims
- 1. A method for making a preform, comprising:
forming a slurry including materials having a plurality of structural forms; dispersing a cationic material into the slurry so as to substantially coat the plurality of structural forms with the cationic material; dispersing an anionic material into the slurry having the coated structural forms therein so as to cause the coated structural forms to flocculate; and drying the flocced slurry in a form to obtain a preform having a thickness in the range 0.78 inches through 10 inches.
- 2. A method for making a preform, comprising:
forming a slurry including 1-90 weight-% carbon fibers and 10-99 weight-% powder; dispersing a cationic material into the slurry, at a rate of 5-25 weight-% of the weight of the carbon fibers and powder, so as to substantially coat the fibers and the powder with the cationic material; dispersing a 0.05-1.0% solution of an anionic material into the slurry having the coated carbon fibers and powder therein, at a rate of 1 to 5 liters per kilogram of fibers and powder, so as to cause the coated carbon fibers and powder to flocculate; and drying the flocced slurry in a shaped form to obtain a preform.
- 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the slurry is formed initially with 1-50 weight-% carbon fibers and with 50-99 weight-% powder.
- 4. A method for making a preform, comprising:
forming a slurry including materials having a plurality of structural forms; dispersing an anionic material into the slurry so as to substantially coat the plurality of structural forms with the anionic material; dispersing a cationic material into the slurry having the coated structural forms therein so as to cause the coated structural forms to flocculate; and drying the flocced slurry in a form to obtain a preform having a thickness in the range 0.78 inches through 10 inches.
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/853,230 filed on May 11, 2001, which application is in turn a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/611,735 filed on Jul. 7, 2000, now abandoned. The entire contents of both of those applications are hereby expressly incorporated by reference.
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09853230 |
May 2001 |
US |
Child |
10281629 |
Oct 2002 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09611735 |
Jul 2000 |
US |
Child |
09853230 |
May 2001 |
US |