Production of Metallic Foams Having Open Porosity Using a Powder Metallurgy Approach

A technique has been recently developed to produce foamed metallic structures from dry powder blends containing a metallic powder, a polymeric binder, and a foaming agent. The blend is molded and heat-treated to foam and consolidate the material. The final properties may be tailored by varying the sintering temperature. Microstructure, chemical composition, and properties of nickel (Ni) foams sintered at different temperature are presented and discussed. The resulting material has an open cell microstructure with three levels of porosity. This structure leads to materials having low density ( 90% porosity) and high specific surface area. The specific surface area is reduced and the mechanical strength is increased when the sintering temperature increases.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye