Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Metal Foams Fabricated via Melt Foaming and Powder Metallurgy Technique: A Review

Abstract

Metal foams possess remarkable properties, such as lightweight, high compressive strength, lower specific weight, high stiffness, and high energy absorption. These properties make them highly desirable for many engineering applications, including lightweight materials, energy-absorption devices for aerospace and automotive industries, etc. For such potential applications, it is essential to understand the mechanical behaviour of these foams. Producing metal foams is a highly challenging task due to the coexistence of solid, liquid, and gaseous phases at different temperatures. Although numerous techniques are available for producing metal foams, fabricating foamed metal still suffers from imperfections and inconsistencies. Thus, a good understanding of various processing techniques and properties of the resulting foams is essential to improve the foam quality. This review discussed the types of metal foams available in the market and their properties, providing an overview of the production techniques involved and the contribution of metal foams to various applications. This review also discussed the challenges in foam fabrications and proposed several solutions to address these problems.

A Review of Different Manufacturing Methods of Metallic Foams

“…However, over the past two decades, improvements in production techniques have overcome these hurdles, bringing a fresh wave of innovation and progress to the foam industry. 6,34,40,41 In the early 1990s, Shinko Wire, Japan, made significant technological breakthroughs in production techniques, leading to a new era of foam production mith numerous commercial applications due to high demand in structural and automotive applications such as sound absorption structures used under bridges and impact absorbers in railway rolling stocks. 42 Metal foams with good physical and mechanical properties are being produced with advanced manufacturing techniques and processing parameters.…”

“…For example, aluminum foam is produced using the melt gas injection method, and using aluminum scrap is costeffective. 5,6 Similarly, in the blowing agent technique, metallic foam formed from carbonate blowing agents is less expensive, safer, and easier to get than hydride-blowing agents. 7 The increasing demand for metallic foams in various industries can potentially reduce production costs through economies of scale.…”

“…Metallic foam production costs vary based on materials, production process, and desired properties, but some aspects such as cheap raw materials, foaming agent, supply, and demand also contribute to its lower cost compared to other materials. For example, aluminum foam is produced using the melt gas injection method, and using aluminum scrap is cost-effective. , Similarly, in the blowing agent technique, metallic foam formed from carbonate blowing agents is less expensive, safer, and easier to get than hydride-blowing agents . The increasing demand for metallic foams in various industries can potentially reduce production costs through economies of scale.…”

Microstructure and Strengthening Effect of Coated Diamond Particles on the Porous Aluminum Composites

“…Porous materials are increasingly demanded materials for aerospace and automobile applications due to their structural and functional advantages. These materials possess high specific strength, high specific stiffness and outstanding energy absorption capabilities [1,2]. As a result, porous materials have received extensive interest.…”

Metal foams: A review for mechanical properties under tensile and shear stress

“…Of course, not all methods can be applied for all metal alloys. Some methods use similar techniques for foaming aqueous or polymer liquids, others developed techniques based on a specific characteristic of materials, such as the action during sintering or the agent they can deposit electrically (Banhart, 2013;Mahadev et al, 2018;Kulshreshtha and Dhakad, 2020;Parveez et al, 2022). The basic processing techniques of cellular materials are summarized in Ashby et al (2000a), with the main categories: liquid metallurgy, coating techniques, and powder metallurgy.…”