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Alternative starting materials for the production of aluminum foam by the powder metallurgical process

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Abstract

In the past it has already been proven that aluminum foam is a construction material appropriate for numerous applications. Especially in domains such as machine tool manufacturing and vehicle construction the combination of lightweight design and vibration damping is of great importance and aluminum foam can unfold its full potential. The widespread use of aluminum foam is still hampered by the high production costs resulting from the expensive production process and starting materials. The present work focuses on studies of alternative, cheaper starting materials. The results of current investigations follow the idea that aluminum chips may be successfully used as base material instead of atomized powders, without negatively influencing the macroscopic foam structure. It could also be proven that good foaming rates can be achieved with calcium carbonate as foaming agent for aluminum. That's why already in the near future, it will be possible to use recycling materials like aluminum chips in the series production of aluminum foams by the powder metallurgical process (PM process). Since sorted aluminum chips cost less than 1 €/kg, and calcium carbonate costs only a fraction of titanium hydride, a distinct price reduction for aluminum foam, and the lowering of the inhibition threshold for its application should be possible. Further studies are required to examine the static and dynamic properties of the foams and to compare them with conventional aluminum foams.

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Notes

  1. Design of experiments.

  2. Average grain size.

Abbreviations

α:

Star point distance [−]

C:

Content [weight percent]

D50 :

Mean particle diameter [mm]

\( {\bar{\text{d}}}_{\text{P}} \) :

Mean pore diameter [mm]

F:

Frequency/rotational frequency of beating elements [Hz]

FR:

Foaming rate [−]

M:

Mass of chips [kg]

Z:

Time of fracturing process [min]

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Hohlfeld, J., Hannemann, C., Vogel, R. et al. Alternative starting materials for the production of aluminum foam by the powder metallurgical process. Prod. Eng. Res. Devel. 5, 25–30 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11740-010-0271-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11740-010-0271-0

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