Cast cellular metals with regular and irregular structures

Abstract

An appropriate way to reduce the weight of manufactured parts without adversely affecting their strength is to use porous metallic materials with different internal arrangements of the intentionally created cavities. Porous metallic materials can be made from liquid metal, from powdered metal, metal vapours, or from metal ions. The aim of this research was to verify the possibilities of producing metallic foams by conventional foundry processes, to study the process conditions as well as the physical and mechanical properties of the metal foams produced. The experiments demonstrated the possibility of manufacturing castings with both a regular cellular structure and a solid skin in a single casting operation using different kinds of preform made from commonly used resin-bonded core mixtures. From the perspective of the need to destroy the preforms after the metal’s solidification it seems a very interesting prospect to produce preforms from different salts.