Preliminary Study on the Production of Open Cells Aluminum Foam by Using Organic Sugar as Space Holders

TL;DRAbstract

This work investigates the production of Al foams using organic sugar granulates as space holders. To the Al matrix hollow glass micro spheres were added to constitute a light weight composite material. The process comprises the following steps: mixing of Al powders and organic sugar granulates, compacting of the mixture, heating the green compact to eliminate the sugar and final sintering of the metallic powder. Open spaces left by the volatilization of the sugar granulates constitute a net of interconnect porosity in the final product, which is, therefore, a metallic sponge. It was analyzed the influence of processing parameters in the different steps of production, in the final quality of products. Products were characterized concerning cells distribution and sintering interfaces. Results showed the general viability of producing composites by the proposed technique, based on a simple and low cost procedure.

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