MAKING LARGE CLOSED CELL-METAL FOAM FOR STRUCTURAL APPLICATIONS
Keywords:
aluminum foam, own method, titanium hydride, alumina powder, heating rate, structural applicationAbstract
Commercially recycled aluminum scrap was processed by an own method of melting under the influence of microwaves and atomizing the melt with nitrogen gas jets. Fine aluminum granules together with titanium hydride as an expanding agent and a subsequent addition of very fine alumina powder as a foam stabilizer constituted the materials used to produce large-cell aluminum foam for light structural applications. The material mixture was heated to 753-768 ℃ in a microwave oven functionally adapted for high temperatures. The use of microwave irradiation of the material allowed to obtain extremely high heating rates (53.4-91.6 ℃·min-1) and very short process times. The aluminum foams made in this way had excellent features regarding thermal insulation properties (low values of density and thermal conductivity), a sufficiently high compressive strength and cell size of the foam structure up to almost 2 mm, being suitable for light structural industrial applications.References
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