Method of producing composite armor plate bodies

Claim 1

A method of making armor plate comprising the steps of: making a porous body of silicon carbide in the shape of an armor plate element, having open and through-penetrating pores therein, by preparing a deformable mass of particles of silicon and carbon, all coated with an organic binder by suspending and mixing particles of silicon and particles of carbon in a binder solution from which the binder is thereafter precipitated by introducing the suspension into a liquid serving to precipitate the binder on the particles as an even coating, molding said mass into armor plate shape by extrusion or in a low pressure diepress, coking the binder of the molded body at a temperature in the range from 800° C. to 1000° C., raising the temperature to a temperature in the range from 1400° C. to 1600° C. to form silicon carbide and cooling the body thus produced; evacuating the pores of said body in a pressure vessel, then soaking said body in a melt of a metallic material selected from the group consisting of steel and steel alloys under pressure of at least 1 bar to fill said pores with said metallic material, and then cooling said body and thereby solidifying the metallic material.

Claim 2

A method of making armor plate comprising the steps of: making a porous body of silicon carbide in the shape of an armor plate element, having open and through-penetrating pores therein, by preparing a deformable mass of particles of silicon and carbon, all coated with an organic binder by suspending and mixing particles of silicon and particles of carbon in a binder solution from which the binder is thereafter precipitated by introducing the suspension into a liquid serving to precipitate the binder on the particles as an even coating, molding said mass into armor plate shape by extrusion or in a low pressure diepress, coking the binder of the molded body at a temperature in the range from 800° C. to 1000° C., raising the temperature to a temperature in the range from 1400° C. to 1600° C. to form silicon carbide and cooling the body thus produced; evacuating the pores of said body in a pressure vessel, then soaking said body in a melt of a metallic material selected from the group consisting of steel and steel alloys under pressure of at least 1 bar to fill said pores with said metallic material, and then cooling said body and thereby solidifying the metallic material.

Claim 3

A method of making armor plate comprising the steps of: making a porous body of silicon carbide in the shape of an armor plate element having open and penetrating pores therein by preparing a deformable mass of particles of silicon and carbon with a minor admixture of silicon carbide, all coated with an organic binder by suspending and mixing said particles in a binder solution from which the binder is thereafter precipitated by introducing the suspension into a liquid serving to precipitate the binder on the particles as an even coating, molding said mass into armor plate shape by extrusion or in a low pressure diepress, coking the binder of the molded body at a temperature in the range from 800° C. to 1000° C., raising the temperature to a temperature in the range from 1400° C. to 1600° C. to form silicon carbide and cooling the body thus produced; evacuating the pores of said body in a pressure vessel, then soaking said body in a melt of a metallic material selected from the group consisting of steel and steel alloys under pressure of at least 1 bar to fill said pores with said metallic material, and then cooling said body and thereby solidifying the metallic material.

Claim 4

A method of making armor plate comprising the steps of: making a porous body of silicon carbide in the shape of an armor plate element having open and penetrating pores therein by preparing a deformable mass of particles of silicon and carbon with a minor admixture of silicon carbide, all coated with an organic binder by suspending and mixing said particles in a binder solution from which the binder is thereafter precipitated by introducing the suspension into a liquid serving to precipitate the binder on the particles as an even coating, molding said mass into armor plate shape by extrusion or in a low pressure diepress, coking the binder of the molded body at a temperature in the range from 800° C. to 1000° C., raising the temperature to a temperature in the range from 1400° C. to 1600° C. to form silicon carbide and cooling the body thus produced; evacuating the pores of said body in a pressure vessel, then soaking said body in a melt of a metallic material selected from the group consisting of steel and steel alloys under pressure of at least 1 bar to fill said pores with said metallic material, and then cooling said body and thereby solidifying the metallic material.