Manufacturing of cast-metal sponges from copper alloys

Abstract

The paper deals with the topic of manufacturing metal sponges from copper alloys using a special foundry technology of "a two-stage investment-casting process using an evaporative polyurethane (PUR) pattern". Particular attention is paid to the study of castability as a technological characteristic, which is a limiting factor for the production of such castings. The castability of the CuSn12 copper alloy was observed in various production-process conditions (pouring temperature, mould temperature) with the aim to find dependence trends and set the optimal conditions of the manufacturing process. From the results, it is obvious that the crucial factor influencing the castability is the mould temperature, although the pouring temperature also has a smallish influence on it.