PDPM Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design and Manufacturing, Jabalpur

Metal Foam
By
Sangharatna Ramteke
Research Scholar
1520366

4/10/2018 1
Definition of Metal Foam
• Metallic foam can be defined as a metallic material with a
cellular structure.
• Metal foams have plenty of pores inside and their density is
much lower than the solid one.
• Cellular materials are multifunctional materials with porous
structure.

Porosity

Cellular structure
Introduction
• Metal foams are a new, as yet imperfectly characterized, class of materials
with low densities and novel physical, mechanical, thermal, electrical and
acoustic properties.

• They offer potential for lightweight structures, for energy absorption, and
for thermal management; and some of them, at least, are cheap.

• At this point in time most commercially available metal foams are based on
aluminum or nickel. Methods exist for foaming magnesium, lead, zinc,
copper, bronze, titanium, steel and even gold, available on custom order.

• Given the intensity of research and process development, it is anticipated

that the range of available foams will expand quickly over the next five
years.
Metal Foam Preparation
• The metal foam is the combination of metal alloys and foaming agent.
• The metals alloys can be Fe, Cu, Al, Ag, Ti etc.
• The foaming agent can be
 Titanium hydride - Effective Foaming Agent
 Zirconium hydride - High Cost
 Calcium carbonate - Low Cost ,Easily Available
 Sodium Carbonate - Low Cost , Easily available
• For example, an aluminum alloys can be melted into the stir casting
furnace.
• Then the sufficient amount of foaming agent is added to the molten metal.
• Aluminum and foaming agent then stirred with each other and
decomposition of this mixture results in the release of some gasses.
• If this gasses trapped and allowed the molten metal to solidify, its results
into the closed cell foam.
Open cell structure Closed cell structure
Characteristics
1. Light in weight and stiff in nature.

2. Very high porosity (75-95 % void spaces).

3. Less thermal conductivity.

4. High compression strengths combined with good energy absorption

characteristics.

5. High strength.
Application
• The closed variety is used for structural applications requiring load-bearing
features, and for weight-saving and impact-absorbing structures in vehicles.
• The open variety is ideal for vibration and sound absorption, filtration and
catalysis at high temperatures, for heat exchange and in medical devices.
• The open variety is also useful in functional applications such as filtration
and damping.
• Foam metal is being used as an experimental prosthetic in animals.
• Metal foams with high strengths can act as high-capacity impact-energy
absorbers.
• Automotive industry - the foams reduce the number of parts in the car
frame, facilitate assembly, thereby reducing costs and improving
performance.

Source: http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/0012/Banhart-0012.html