Reactive sintering principle and compressive properties of porous AZ91 magnesium alloy foams produced by powder metallurgy approach

Abstract

Porous magnesium alloy foams have gained tremendous interest from scientists because of their super lightweight, unique mechanical and physical properties. Despite numerous studies suggesting these advanced materials for structural and functional applications, their manufacturing processes remain poorly understood. In this paper, the porous Mg‐9 wt. %Al‐1 wt. % Zn alloy foam was prepared through the reactive sintering principle (i. e. the element metal powder reaction principle) by using the powder metallurgical method that is combined with a pore‐making agent. The chemical and phase compositions of the cell wall microstructure were investigated by X‐ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope equipped with energy dispersive spectrometer. The compressive properties of the foams were evaluated by quasi‐static compression testing. The results of the analysis reveal that low‐temperature sintering can produce qualitative magnesium alloy foams with good mechanical properties by taking advantage of the intermetallic/or intermediate compounds which are formed in the cell wall through metal elements powder diffusion and reaction. Particularly, the foam samples sintered at 380 °C for 12 h gave the best compressive properties owing to the alloy intermetallic contents and the relative density of the foams.