SiC-particulate aluminum composite foams produced by powder compacts: Foaming and compression behavior

The foaming behavior of SiC-particulate (8.6% by volume) aluminum composite powder compacts contained Titanium Hydride blowing agent was investigated by heating above the melting temperature (750°C) in a pre-heated furnace. Aluminum powder compacts were also prepared and foamed using similar compaction and foaming parameters in order to determine the effect of SiC-particulate addition on foaming and compression behavior. The linear expansions of the compacts at various furnace holding times were ex situ determined. Optical and scanning electron microscopy techniques were used to characterize prepared and deformed foams microstructures. The SiC-particulate addition was found to increase the linear expansion and reduce the extent of the liquid metal drainage and cell coarsening of the aluminum compacts. The composite foam samples also showed higher compressive stresses, but a more brittle behavior as compared with aluminum foams.     

Foaming behavior of Ti6Al4V particle-added aluminum powder compacts

The foaming behavior of 5 wt.% Ti6Al4V (Ti64) particle (30–200 μm)-added Al powder compacts was investigated in order to assess the particle-addition effects on the foaming behavior. Al compacts without particle addition were also prepared with the same method and foamed. The expansions of Ti64 particle-added compacts were measured to be relatively low at small particle sizes and increased with increasing particle size. At highest particle size range (160–200 μm), particle-added compacts showed expansion behavior similar to that of Al compacts without particle addition, but with lower expansion values. Expansions studies on 30–45 μm size Ti64-added compacts with varying weight percentages showed that the expansion behavior of the compacts became very similar to that of Al compact when the particle content was lower than 2 wt.%. However, Ti64 addition reduced the extent of drainage. Ti64 particles and TiAl₃ particles formed during foaming increased the apparent viscosity of the liquid foam and hence reduced the flow of liquid metal from cell walls to plateau borders. The reduced foamability in the compacts with the smaller size Ti64 addition was attributed to the relatively high viscosities, due to the higher cumulative surface area of the particles and higher rate of TiAl₃ formation between liquid Al and Ti64 particles.     

Manufacturing of Al/SiCp composite foams using calcium carbonate as foaming agent

Abstract

The aluminium composite foams reinforced by different volume fractions of SiC particles were manufactured with the direct foaming route of melt using different contents of CaCO₃ foaming agent. The density of produced foams changed from 0·43 to 0·76 g cm^?3. The microstructural features and compressive properties of the Al/SiC_p composite foams were investigated. Compressive stress–strain curve of Al/SiC_p composite foams is not smooth and exhibits some serrations. At the same relative density of composite foams, the plateau stress of the composite foams increases with increasing volume fraction of SiCp and decreasing weight percentage of CaCO₃. The relation between plateau stress, relative density, weight percentage of CaCO₃ and SiCp volume fraction of Al/SiCp composite foams with a given particle size was investigated.     

Open cell lead foams: processing, microstructure, and mechanical properties

Open cell lead foams with the porosities between 48 and 74 % were prepared by means of powder metallurgical and casting routes, using ammonium bicarbonate particles, silica beads, and sodium chloride salt particles as space holder. The resulting foam samples structure closely resembled open cell foam structure: each cell had few interconnections with neighboring cells. Small-sized lead (II) fluoride precipitates were microscopically observed in the interior of cells in the foam samples prepared using silica beads as space holder, resulting from the reaction between silica and hydrofluoric acid in the space holder dissolution step. The compression stress–strain curve of foam samples prepared by powder metallurgical route showed brittle deformation behavior following the initial elastic deformation region, while the foam samples prepared by casting route showed characteristic foam deformation behavior: cell edge crushing on the bent cell walls, and cell wall tearing. The collapse stresses, densification strains, and elastic moduli of the prepared foams were further fitted with scaling relations.     

Laser additive manufacturing foam aluminium-12 wt-% silicon with different addition TiH2 foaming agent

The aim of this work is to study the effects of laser additive manufacturing on microstructure and mechanical properties of foam Al–12?wt-%Si aluminium alloy with/without TiH₂ foaming agent. The results showed that low porosity closed foam Al–12Si was successfully obtained. The effect of processing parameters on the porosity is discussed. The porosity was changed from initial 20.9% without foaming agent to 32.3 and 45.9% with 5 and 10% addition of foaming agent, respectively. Average micro-hardness values of the obtain foam Al–Si alloy is varied from 100 to 130?HV and the shape of compressive stress–strain curve is as the same as foam aluminium made by powder metallurgy and casting methods.     

Effect of cell shape anisotropy on the compressive behavior of closed-cell aluminum foams

The closed-cell Al–Si foams have been prepared by molten body transitional foaming process using TiH₂ foaming agent. The cell shape anisotropy ratio of specimens with various relative densities was measured. The quasi-static compressive behavior of Al–Si foams in both longitudinal and transverse directions were investigated. The results show that Al–Si foam loaded in the transverse direction exhibits a lower stress drop ratio. The relationship between plastic collapse stress ratio and cell shape anisotropy is in accordance with Gibson and Ashby model. The plastic collapse stress and the energy absorption property of Al–Si foams increase following power law relationship with relative density. Moreover, Al–Si foams exhibit higher plastic collapse stress and the energy absorption property in the longitudinal direction than that in the transverse direction.     

Cell structure and compressive behavior of an aluminum foam

The plastic collapse strength, energy absorption and elastic modulus of a closed cell aluminum foam are studied in relation to cell structures. The density, node size and the cell wall thickness of the aluminum foams decrease with increasing cell size. The failure of the foam cells under compressive load progresses successively from the top or/and bottom to the mid-layer of the compression specimens, and no initial rupture of the foam cells is observed in the mid-height of the foam samples. When foam density increases from 0.11 to 0.22 g/cm ³, the plastic collapse strength rises from 0.20 to 1.29 MPa, while the elastic modulus of the closed cell aluminum foam increases from 0.70 to 1.17 GPa. In contrast, the energy absorption of the foams decreases rapidly with increasing cell size. When cell size increases from 4.7 to 10.1 mm, the energy absorption drops from over unity to 0.3 J/cm ³. The normalized Yong’s modulus of the closed cell aluminum foam is E^*/E_s = 0.208 (ρ^*/ρ_s), while the normalized strength of the foams, σ */σ_s is expressed by σ */σ_s = c ⋅ ρ */ρ_s where c is a density-dependent parameter. Furthermore, the plastic collapse strength and energy absorption ability of the closed cell aluminum foams are significantly improved by reducing cell size of the aluminum foams having the same density.     

Production of Metallic Foams From Ceramic Foam Precursors

A process has been developed for obtaining closed cell metallic foams using a ceramic foam precursor. In this approach, the major constituent of the ceramic foam precursor is iron oxide (Fe₂O₃), which is mixed with various foaming/setting additives. The mixture sets rapidly at room temperature to stabilize the foam generated by hydrogen release. The oxide foam is then reduced in a non‐flammable hydrogen/inert gas mixture to obtain a metallic foam with a cell diameter of 0.5–2 mm. Iron foams with a relative density of 0.23 were tested in compression and yielded an average compressive strength of ～ 34 MPa. The compressive stress‐strain curves obtained were typical of cellular metals. The normalized strengths of the metal foams obtained in the present study compare very favorably with that of steel foams produced by other techniques.     

Fabrication of ferrous metallic foams by reduction of ceramic foam precursors

A process has been developed for obtaining closed cell metallic foams using a ceramic foam precursor. In the present study, the major constituent of the ceramic foam precursor was iron oxide (Fe₂O₃), which was mixed with various foaming/setting additives. The mixture set rapidly at room temperature, stabilizing the foam generated by hydrogen release. The oxide foam was then reduced by annealing at 1240^∘C in a non-flammable hydrogen/inert gas mixture to obtain a metallic foam with a relative density of 0.23 ± 0.017, and an average cell diameter of 1.32 ± 0.32 mm. The iron foams were tested in compression and yielded an average compressive strength of 29 ± 7 MPa. The compressive stress-strain curves obtained were typical of cellular metals. The normalized strengths of the metal foams obtained in the present study compare favorably with those of steel foams produced by other techniques.     

The mechanical behavior of foamed aluminum

Experiments have been carried out to investigate the mechanical behavior of foamed aluminum with different matrixes and states. It is found that the matrix composition has a significant influence over the deformation, failure and fracture of foamed aluminum. Like other cellular solid materials, Al foam shows a smooth compression stress–strain curve with three regions characteristic of plastic foams: linear elastic, plastic collapse and densification. AlMg10 foam has a serrated plateau and no densification, characteristic of brittle foams. AlMg10 foam has higher compressive and tensile strength but lower ductility than Al foam. The difference in the mechanical properties between Al foam and AlMg10 foam decreases as the relative density decreases, and when it is lower than roughly 0.15, no difference can be discerned. The mechanical properties in compression are clearly higher than those in tension, which can be explained in terms of dislocation theory and stress concentration behavior.     

Fracture of open- and closed-cell metal foams

Two closed cell aluminium foams and one open cell nickel-chromium foam were subjected to microstructural characterization, in situ fracture tests and fractography. The failure process of the open cell foam was observed to be rather ductile, while that of the closed cell foams was found to be brittle. The ductility was related to the purity of the nickel chromium alloy, resulting in necking to be the dominant source of energy dissipation during failure. The brittleness of the closed cell foams was related to the presence of precipitates and particles in the cell wall microstructure, limiting the amount of plastic dissipation. The embrittling phases were traced back to the alloy composition, viscosity enhancing additions and foaming agent.     

Mechanical behavior of pure Al and Al–Mg syntactic foam composites containing glass cenospheres

Glass cenospheres were used as space holders for making aluminum matrix syntactic foams by pressure infiltration technique. The mechanical properties and failure behavior of cenospheres/Al syntactic foams with pure Al and Al–Mg alloys were investigated in the present work. The failure behavior of cenospheres in two syntactic foams was similar. However, the mechanical behavior of these two syntactic foams was different. Under compression process, the cenospheres/pure Al showed discontinuous shear band and drum shape, while cenospheres/Al–Mg exhibited continuous shear band and was divided by main shear zone. At the tensile state, the cenospheres in pure Al matrix syntactic foam debonded from the matrix, while the cenospheres in Al–Mg matrix syntactic foam was well-bonded and appeared to lamellar tearing. It is suggested that the difference of mechanical deformation behavior could be attributed to the matrix ductility and the forming of interfacial reaction product MgAl₂O₄ coatings.     

Compressive behaviour of open cell Al–Al2O3 composite foams fabricated by sintering and dissolution process

Abstract

The sintering and dissolution process (SDP) was used to produce the fine open cell Al–Al₂O₃ composite and pure Al foams with the relative density of 0·25–0·40 and the pore size of 112–400 μm. The composite foam exhibited much higher yield strength and Young's modulus than the pure Al foam, and thus had an elevated plateau stress. Moreover, the composite foam showed a unique dependence of the compression stress on the pore size, i.e. it increased with increasing pore size, which was quite different from that for the common metal foams.     

Fabrication and investigation of influence of CaCO3 as foaming agent on Al-SiCp foam

Closed cell aluminum foams have been used in various disciplines of engineering. Aluminum foams provide high strength with the advantage of low weight. In the current research, CaCO₃ is used as a foaming agent for producing closed-cell aluminum foams. For the fabrication of homogenous foam, optimization of process parameters was done. The effect of SiC as a thickening agent on structural property of foams viz. density and porosity have been inspected. Foams with density 0.40–0.86 g/cm³ were produced. The produced foams were studied under axial compression tests for evaluating mechanical properties. It can be inferred from the results that by adding 3 wt.% CaCO₃, the uniform viscosity of melt was achieved and a homogeneous foam structure is achieved with optimum porosity. Also, 5 wt.% addition of CaCO₃ in melt and stirring speed at 1400 rpm tend to increase porosity and decrease cell wall thickness. The optimum values for thickening agent SiC, foaming agent CaCO₃ at stirring speed 1400 rpm were found out to be 15 wt.%, 3 wt.%. The effect of relative density, the addition of thickening and foaming agent is studied.     

Effects of aluminium powder content and cold rolling on foaming behaviour of xAlp/Al5Si4Cu4Mg/0.8TiH2 composites

Abstract

Aluminium foams were produced by applying powder metallurgy technology. The process began by making aluminium powder and mixing it with alloy powder (Al5Si4Cu4Mg) and foaming agent (TiH₂). The mix was compacted to the form of a billet by cold pressing and then it was hot extruded to a dense foamable strip, which was cold rolled to give 40% thickness reduction. The resulting precursor composites of both the extruded strip and the extruded plus rolled strip were then freely foamed without a mould at a constant temperature of 700°C for different foaming times. The effects of aluminium powder content and cold rolling on the foaming characteristics of the foamable composite strip were studied. It is noted that aluminium powder fibre in the extruded composite strip acts as a barrier to pore initiation and evolution due to the higher melting point of pure aluminium fibre than that of the alloy matrix. Cold rolling promotes foaming of the composite strip due to the TiH₂ cracking and debonding between TiH₂ particles and metal matrix. The morphological and microstructural evolution of composite foams was also investigated. The foaming mechanism can be described by the following sequence: cracklike pore nucleation between elongated powder fibres; ellipsoidal, spherical, and polygonal pore growth; and the collapse of pores as a result of coalescence.     

Novel polymer–metal based method for open cell metal foams production

Abstract

Metal foams have acquired popular interest in recent years and are potentially useful for many applications due to their light weight, high specific stiffness, high surface to volume ratio, and adjustable cell structure. Here, current methods of producing metal foams are briefly reviewed. The requirements for high porosity metal foams with open cells are discussed. A novel powder metallurgy route involving a polymeric vehicle is introduced that can readily generate open cell foams with porosity greater than 90%. Coarse Ti powder and fine carbonyl iron powder were tested. Although the resulting polymer metal foam was closed cell, particles were not retained in the windows. Upon pyrolysis to remove the resin, the windows opened and the final sintered metal foam was highly reticulated. Such foams offer a fine reticulated structure with cell diameters in the region of 100–200 µm, and may find applications in the areas of catalysis, biomaterials, and composites.     

Thermal conductivity anisotropy in polypropylene foams prepared by supercritical CO2 dissolution

Different relative density polypropylene foams were prepared by means of two foaming processes: chemical foaming by compression moulding and physical foaming by high pressure CO₂ dissolution. By controlling the foaming parameters, such as blowing agent concentration, foaming temperature, pressure drop and pressure drop rate, it was possible to regulate the cellular structure, foams showing from markedly isotropic-like cellular structures to ones with highly-elongated cells in the vertical foam growth direction (honeycomb-like cell orientation). The thermal conductivity was measured using the transient plane source method. Using this technique, it was possible to measure the global conductivity and the thermal conductivity in both the axial and radial directions of a given sample. Results show that the global thermal conductivity of foams was mainly regulated by their relative density. In addition, the honeycomb-like cell orientation of the CO₂ dissolution foams resulted in considerably higher values in axial direction when compared to radial, demonstrating that there was a direct influence of cellular structure on the thermal conduction behaviour of these foams, enabling the development of new polypropylene foams with direction-dependent thermal properties.     

Effect of the interface bonding on the mechanical response of aluminium foam reinforced steel tubes

Aluminium foams have been recently proposed as filling reinforcements to improve impact behavior of hollow components used as protection systems in vehicles. In this study, aluminium foam filled stainless steel tubes have been prepared by directly foaming metal powder compacts inside the tubes. Attention was concentrated on the interface phenomena that characterize the core–shell interaction and the process parameters determining the metallurgical reactions between the two alloys. The formation of binary and ternary intermetallic compounds was observed at the aluminium/steel interface whenever the growth of the oxide layer on the foam surface in foaming was constrained. Compression tests of the reinforced tubes confirmed a maximized energy absorption in coincidence with the formation of the interface bonding. In those cases, extended foam intrusions into compressed tube folds were observed. The microstructural investigation revealed that in the transition zone the intermetallic layer strength was comparable to that of the foamed matrix.     

Dynamic Collapse Mechanisms in Metal Foam Expansion

The study provides insight into decomposition of titanium hydride as foaming agent for powder metallurgically produced aluminum foams. Decomposition is characterized using thermal and kinetic analysis, allowing prediction of decomposition reactions. Such predictions are made for various time–temperature cycles, which are experimentally evaluated in parallel foaming experiments. A new explanation of foam collapse is derived from the results, which interprets hints at a maximum gas release rate, limiting maximum expansion, in terms of the existence of a maximum cell wall stretching rate and expanding foam can sustain. Thus a dynamic collapse criterion is added to existing static ones.