Fabrication, properties and application of porous metals with directional pores

This paper reviews the recent development of fabrication methods, various properties of porous metals with directional pores and its applications. This porous metals are fabricated by unidirectional solidification in pressurized gas atmosphere such as hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen. The pores are evolved from insoluble gas when the melt metal dissolving the gas is solidified. The nucleation and growth mechanism of the directional pores in metals are discussed in comparison with a model experiment of carbon dioxide pores in ice. Three fabrication techniques, mold casting, continuous zone melting and continuous casting techniques, are introduced. The latter two techniques can control the solidification velocity and the last one possesses a merit for mass production. The porosity and pore size are able to be controlled by solidification velocity and ambient gas pressure, while the pore direction can be controlled by solidification direction. Not only metals and alloys but also intermetallic compounds, semiconductors and ceramics can be produced by this method. Anisotropy in the mechanical and physical properties is resulted from anisotropic pore morphology. The experimental results on the anisotropy in the elastic property and electrical conductivity are consistent with those calculated with an effective-mean-field theory. The anisotropic behaviors of tensile, compressive and fatigue strength are explained in terms of the dependence of stress concentration on the pore orientation. This porous metals exhibit good sound absorption and vibration-damping properties. Several possible applications are in progress for heat sink, golf putter, biomaterials and so on.     

The Uncertainty in SCHF‐DT Thermal Conductivity Measurements of Lotus‐Type Porous Copper

Lotus‐type porous metals with many straight pores are attractive for use as heat‐sinks because a large heat‐transfer capacity can be obtained, due to the small diameter of the pores. In order to use lotus‐type porous copper effectively as a heat sink, it is important to know the effective thermal conductivity considering the effect of pores on heat conduction in the material. Since these metals have anisotropic pores, a steady‐state comparative longitudinal heat‐flow method for measuring thermal conductivity, referring to an ASTM standard, is better than other methods. So far, the effective thermal conductivity of lotus‐type porous copper has been measured by using specimens of different thickness (the SCHF‐DT method). In this paper, the uncertainty in the effective thermal conductivity of a specimen measured using this method was evaluated by comparison between numerical analysis and current experimental data. The following conclusions were drawn: 1) The uncertainty showed good agreement with the uncertainty analysis; 2) The contribution of the thermal grease thickness was large, based on a combined standard uncertainty analysis; and, 3) The effective thermal conductivity perpendicular to the pores of lotus copper can be measured within 10% uncertainty by this method.     

Fabrication of Lotus‐Structured Porous Iron by Unidirectional Solidification under Nitrogen Gas

A novel technique has been developed to fabricate lotus‐structured porous iron in which long cylindrical pores are aligned in one direction. The iron is melted and unidirectionally solidified in a pressurized gas mixture of nitrogen and argon. The process involves the dissolution of nitrogen in molten iron and the evolution of nitrogen pores due to the decrease in solubility of nitrogen during solidification. The porosity is controlled by adjusting the partial pressures of nitrogen and argon during melting and solidification. The nitrogen concentration in solid iron increases with increasing partial pressure of nitrogen at a given total pressure, leading to improvement of the mechanical properties of the porous iron.     

Fabrication of lotus-type porous carbon steel via continuous zone melting and its mechanical properties

Lotus-type porous carbon steel (lotus carbon steel) AISI1018 rods with long cylindrical pores aligned in one direction were fabricated using the continuous zone melting technique under nitrogen gas pressure of 2.5 MPa. The porosity decreased with increasing transference velocities of 40–160 μm s⁻¹. Tensile tests of the fabricated lotus-type carbon steel rods were performed. The elongation of lotus carbon steel increased after normalizing at 1200 K. The tensile strength and the Young's modulus decreased with increasing porosity. In contrast, the yield strength of lotus carbon steel did not decrease, even with a porosity of 20%, compared with that of non-porous carbon steel. This superior characteristic is attributed to solid-solution strengthening by solute nitrogen.     

Anisotropic compressive properties of porous copper produced by unidirectional solidification

Porous copper whose long cylindrical pores are aligned in one direction has been fabricated by unidirectional solidification of the melt in a mixture gas of hydrogen and argon. The compressive yield strength of the porous copper with the cylindrical pores orientated parallel to the compression direction decreases linearly with increasing porosity. For the porous copper whose pore axes are perpendicular to the compressive direction, the compressive yield strength slightly decreases in the porosity range up to 30% and then decreases significantly with increasing porosity. The compressive stress–strain curves depend on the compressive direction with respect to the pore direction, which are due to the stress concentration around the pores and the buckling of the copper between the pores. From two different types of stress–strain curve, the energy absorption capacity of the porous copper with the pores parallel to the compressive direction is higher than that perpendicular to the compressive direction at a given porosity.     

叔丁醇基凝胶注模工艺制备轻质、高强莫来石多孔陶瓷

以叔丁醇为成型溶剂, 莫来石粉为起始原料, 采用凝胶注模成型方法制备出轻质、高强莫来石多孔陶瓷. 莫来石多孔陶瓷中的孔隙形成于干燥过程中叔丁醇的快速挥发, 孔隙分布均匀且相互连通. 随烧结温度升高, 气孔率、开气孔率和比表面积分别由77.8%、76.0%和10.39m²/g下降到67.6%、65.5%和4.26m²/g, 而抗压强度则由3.29MPa显著提高到32.36MPa, 材料孔径大小受烧结温度影响较小, 孔径尺寸呈单峰分布, 且几乎所有的气孔都为开口气孔, 透气度与孔径尺寸具有一致的变化关系. 莫来石多孔陶瓷在高气孔率条件下仍然保持高强度的主要原因是材料中均匀的孔隙结构、孔径尺寸小且相对集中、以及因烧结颈的形成在空间上所表现出的一种颗粒搭接骨架结构.     

Fabrication and properties of Lotus-type porous nickel-free stainless steel for biomedical applications

Lotus-type porous Fe–25 wt.%Cr, Fe–23 wt.%Cr–2 wt.%Mo alloys and type AISI 446 stainless steel were fabricated by continuous zone melting technique in pressurized hydrogen and helium gas. The porosity of the samples varied in the range 44–48% and the mean pore size values obtained (145–374 μm) are in the biomedical field desired range. The fabricated Lotus-type porous nickel-free stainless steel was nitrided at high temperature up to the nitrogen concentration of 1.0 wt.% and this amount resulted to be sufficient for maintaining almost single-phase austenitic structure at room temperature. The combination of very small magnetic susceptibility, light weight, mechanical properties close to the human cortical bone, together with the known good enough corrosion resistance of high nitrogen nickel-free stainless steel, makes this Lotus-type porous Fe–Cr–N alloys very attractive for bone implant applications.     

Fatigue behaviors of laser hybrid welded AA7020 due to defects via synchrotron X‐ray microtomography

Defect or shrinkage is known to have a detrimental effect on the fatigue resistance of casting lightweight alloys and additively manufactured or 3D printed materials. However, very few works focus on the damage mechanism of fusion welded Al alloys due to gas pores or metallurgical defects. This paper performs an investigation on the effect of porosity on the damage evolution of laser hybrid welded 7020‐T651 alloys. The critical pore size comparable with average weld grain was assumed in terms of the population and dimension of micropores. To characterize the coupling effect between gas pores and cracks, an in situ fatigue testing rig was developed to well work at the synchrotron radiation tomography system. Combining synchrotron X‐ray microtomography and fatigue resistance testing, the pore size and location were correlated with the crack initiation and crack growth path but relatively less on the long crack propagation rate. Furthermore, the interaction between the porosity and stress concentration was elucidated by using finite element simulations, which shows that the gas pore appears to be a preferred cracking site especially near the surface.     

高强隔热刚玉-镁铝尖晶石-莫来石多孔陶瓷材料的制备

以氧化铝、石英粉和电熔镁砂为主要原料,以纸浆废液为结合剂,通过原位反应烧结制备复相高强隔热陶瓷,研究MgO添加量对所制备多孔陶瓷的显气孔率、抗折强度、耐压强度和抗热震性能的影响。采用X射线衍射(XRD)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)和电子万能试验机对材料的物相组成、显微结构和力学性能进行表征,并对多孔陶瓷的显气孔率和抗热震性能进行测试。结果表明:5%(质量分数)电熔镁砂与氧化铝、石英粉在1450℃下原位反应烧结3h可制备得到刚玉-镁铝尖晶石-莫来石多孔复相陶瓷,耐压强度达270.25MPa,抗折强度超过45MPa,同时显气孔率达26.46%,常温导热系数为1.469W·m^-1·K^-1,隔热性能良好,且3次热震后的残余抗折强度保持率超过27%,是极具应用前景的工业窑炉内衬材料。其中MgO含量变化会直接影响该多孔陶瓷三相组成、相形态、气孔孔径及分布,使得多孔陶瓷抗折强度、耐压强度和抗热震性能呈现非单调变化的规律。     

高气孔率莫来石制备、性能及其非线性导热模型

以高铝矾土、硅灰为原料, 玉米淀粉为造孔剂制备高气孔率莫来石, 通过XRD、SEM等对产物物相、形貌进行表征, 研究淀粉含量对显气孔率、体积密度和抗折强度的影响, 及不同显气孔率的莫来石随温度变化的导热系数, 建立体积密度、抗折强度与气孔率关系模型及非线性导热模型。结果表明: 体积密度、抗折强度随气孔率增加而减小, 并符合指数函数关系。导热系数随温度的升高而增大, 实测值与非线性导热模型计算值吻合较好, 非线性导热模型能够准确地反映高气孔率莫来石导热系数与温度、气孔率、平均孔径和热辐射等之间的关系。     

Properties of gasars-metallic materials with pores formed by released hydrogen

We developed a new type of porous materials with anisotropic structure based on a large number of metals. It is shown that these material, called gasars, have properties different from the properties of the other porous materials. Thus, the strength of gasars is much higher than the strength of powder materials with the same porosity and their impact toughness is readily regulated by the sizes of the pores. The internal structures of gasars and possible versions of the types of pores in these materials are strongly diversified, which makes the spectrum of their possible applications very wide. We discuss some specific directions of the potential applications of gasars. The results of measurements of the thermal conductivity of gasars and monolithic specimens are presented. It is shown that, for a certain level of porosity, the specific thermal conductivity of gasars is higher than for monolithic materials. We also make some basic conclusions concerning the characteristics of new porous materials. __________ Translated from Fizyko-Khimichna Mekhanika Materialiv, Vol. 43, No. 5, pp. 125–127, September–October, 2007.     

莫来石含量对钙长石/莫来石复相多孔陶瓷组织结构与性能的影响

以CaCO₃、SiO₂、α-Al₂O₃为原料, 采用泡沫注凝法制备了不同莫来石含量的钙长石/莫来石复相多孔陶瓷, 研究了莫来石含量对复相多孔陶瓷的体积密度、气孔率、抗压强度、热导率及微观组织和结构的影响. 结果表明, 莫来石含量对气孔率有很大的影响, 烧结过程中液相出现引起的收缩是气孔率下降的主要原因; 在气孔率相近的情况下, 莫来石含量较高试样的抗压强度和热导率也较高, 致密的孔壁、长柱状的莫来石晶粒使得复相多孔陶瓷的抗压强度提高. 所制备的钙长石/莫来石复相多孔陶瓷的开口气孔率介于60.8%~75.2%, 抗压强度为12.94~36.95 MPa, 热导率为0.30~1.33 W/(m·K).     

Porous Y2SiO5 Ceramic with Low Thermal Conductivity

Porous Y2SiO5 ceramic was fabricated by freeze casting with tert-butyl alcohol as solvent. The porous Y2SiO5 ceramic possessed long straight pore structure. With decreasing solid loading from 20 to 10 vol.%, the porosity of the Y2SiO5 ceramic increased linearly from 45% to 72%, while the compressive strength declined from 23.2 to 3.1MPa. The thermal conductivity of Y2SiO5 decreased from 1.34W/mK for the dense bulk to 0.05 W/mK for the porous body with a porosity of 57%.     

High-porosity NiTi superelastic alloys fabricated by low-pressure sintering using titanium hydride as pore-forming agent

Porous NiTi shape memory alloys (SMAs) were successfully fabricated by low-pressure sintering (LPS), and the pore features have been controlled by adjusting the processing parameters. The porous NiTi SMAs with high porosity (45%) and large pore size (200–350 μm) can be prepared by LPS using TiH_1.5 as pore-forming agent. These alloys exhibit isotropic pore structure with three-dimensional interconnected pores. The porous NiTi SMA produced by LPS exhibits superelasticity and mechanical properties superior to that by conventional sintering.     

加热条件对炭泡沫材料孔结构和性能的影响

以AR沥青为原料,利用高压釜在不同恒温条件下制备了炭泡沫,并测定了其孔结构、体积密度、显气孔率、压缩强度、常温热导率以及微晶参数.结果表明:相对于短恒温时间,长恒温时间制得的炭泡沫孔径大(412nm)、显气孔率高(83.82%)、体积密度小(0.34g/cm~3)、压缩强度高(4.92MPa),多孔连通结构更丰富.经过石墨化处理后,石墨泡沫呈现出较高的常温热导率(71.34W/(m·K))和较小的层片间距d_(002)(0.33556nm).石墨泡沫的常温比导热率能达到210(W·(m·K)~(-1)) /(g·cm~(-3)),是铜的5倍,铝的4倍.     

Isotropic forming of porous structures via metal injection molding

Metal injection molding (MIM) is a near net-shape process that offers the unique ability to manufacture porous components with homogeneous porosity, pore structure and permeability. MIM is a process that can significantly reduce production cost when large quantities of components with complex shape need to be delivered. In this study, MIM is used to produce porous 316L stainless steel structure from both water and gas atomized powders. The porous components made by MIM were characterized to evaluate their suitability for small pore structure applications. The porous structures were analyzed for porosity, pore size, permeability, and thermal conductivity as a function of powder type and processing conditions. A typical MIM powder (<20 μm) processed at 50 vol% loading in a binder system produced a uniform pore structure with a permeability of less than 1⋅10^{− 13} m² and a maximum pore radius of less than 5 μm. Water-atomized powder proved to be better suited for low-solids-loading metal injection molding (<50 vol% loading) since its irregular shape provided greater strength and fewer defects during the molding and debinding process steps. Measurements of thermal conductivity show that the water-atomized powder had less thermal conductivity (∼2 W/m-K) than the gas-atomized powder (∼3 W/m-K). This study shows that MIM is a suitable process that can be used to manufacture functional porous structures that require isotropic pore size and complex shape.     

Yield behavior of porous nuclear fuel (UO2)

Uranium dioxide (UO₂) is one of the most common nuclear fuels. During burn-up, the fuel undergoes substantial microstructural changes including the formation of pressurized pores, thus becoming a porous material. These pores reduce the elastic modulus and alter the yield behavior of the material. In this work, a finite-element-based homogenization technique has been used to map the yield surface of UO₂ with pressurized pores. Two scenarios are considered; in the first, the fuel matrix is a ductile material with a Von-mises type behavior, while in the second, the matrix is quasi brittle, which is simulated using the concrete damaged plasticity (CDP) model available in ABAQUS. For both of the scenarios, it is found that the yield strength decreases with an increase in porosity for a given internal pore pressure. For a given porosity, the yield surface shifts towards the negative hydrostatic axis in the Haigh-Westergard stress space with an increase in pore pressure. When the matrix is quasi brittle, the decrease in tensile hydrostatic strength is less than the increase in compressive hydrostatic strength, whereas in the case of a ductile matrix, the changes in the hydrostatic strengths are same. Furthermore, the shape of the yield surface changes from one deviatoric plane to another in both scenarios. Analytical equations, which are functions of pore pressure and porosity, are developed to describe the yield surface of porous UO₂ while accounting for the changes in shape of the yield surface from one deviatoric plane to another. These yield functions can be used to predict the failure of porous UO₂ fuel.     

Porous yttria-stabilized zirconia ceramics with ultra-low thermal conductivity

Porous yttria-stabilized zirconia (ZrO₂-8 mol% Y₂O₃, YSZ) ceramics with ultra-low thermal conductivity (as low as 0.06 W/mK) could be fabricated by tert-butyl alcohol (TBA)-based gel-casting process with low solid loadings of 10 and 15 vol%. High porosity (52–76%) and fine pores with average pore size of 0.7–1.8 μm formed after sintering at 1350–1550 °C. These air-containing pores were believed to affect the through-thickness heat transfer propagation, resulting in low thermal conductivity. The thermal conductivity of porous YSZ ceramics with different porosities fits well with computed values derived from Effective Medium Theory (EMT).     

Permeability and high temperature strength of porous mullite-alumina ceramics for hot gas filtration

The gas permeability and mechanical properties of mullite-alumina ceramics for potential use as filters in hot gas separation environments are examined. The mullite-alumina ceramics with different levels of induced porosity and pores sizes were fabricated by slip casting and characterised in terms of microstructure and strength properties at ambient and elevated temperatures. Permeability to nitrogen gas flow of the porous structures at ambient temperature was investigated over a range of flow velocities to quantify and assess the permeability. The strength at high temperatures is equivalent to ambient data signifying no discernible degradation. Nitrogen gas permeability tests reveal dramatic reductions in the pressure drop–gas velocity curves with increasing porosity. It is shown that the gas permeability increases with the level of porosity and pore size, with maximum Darcian permeability constant of k = 2.5×10⁻¹⁴ m² for a porosity of 71%.     

Study on β-TCP Coated Porous Mg as a Bone Tissue Engineering Scaffold Material

Three-dimensional honeycomb-structured magnesium (Mg) scaffolds with interconnected pores of accurately controlled pore size and porosity were fabricated by laser perforation technique. Biodegradable and bioactive β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) coatings were prepared on the porous Mg to further improve its biocompatibility, and the biodegradation mechanism was simply evaluated in vitro. It was found that the mechanical properties of this type of porous Mg significantly depended on its porosity. Elastic modulus and compressive strength similar to human bones could be obtained for the porous Mg with porosity of 42.6%-51%. It was observed that the human osteosarcoma cells (UMR106) were well adhered and proliferated on the surface of the β-TCP coated porous Mg, which indicates that the β-TCP coated porous Mg is promising to be a bone tissue engineering scaffold material.