Metal Foams: Properties, Production and Applications

This study discusses the properties, production and applications of metal foams. It highlights the challenges faced in using metals and how metal foams have helped in minimizing these issues. The research questions focus on the impact of metal foams in engineering materials and the strategies to mitigate the challenges.

Running head: METAL FOAMS
Metal Foams
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

2
METAL FOAMS
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Background..................................................................................................................................3
Rationale......................................................................................................................................3
Aim, Objectives and Research questions.....................................................................................3
Research Outline..........................................................................................................................4
Literature Review............................................................................................................................5
Methodology....................................................................................................................................5
Timeline.......................................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................9

3
METAL FOAMS
Introduction
Background
Metal foams are class of materials having low densities with mechanical, electrical,
physical and acoustic properties. They help in offering potential for lightweight structures in
order to absorb energy for thermal management (Feng et al. 2015). These foams are new class of
material that are unfamiliar for normal use by engineers. Aluminum foams are manufactured by
applying different methods in including direct foaming of aluminum alloy melts and different
advanced metal powder processing.
Rationale
Liquid metal forms have been mixture of gas bubbles and molten alloys. The evolvement
of metal foams have been done from the late 1950s to the 1970s. The operability of metal
foaming processes has been shown and commercialization (Chen, Gao and Shi 2014). This
process led to limits by applying very complex area including metal foaming.
The excessive use of metal ores all over the world have been providing pressure on the
extent of metal ores. The non-renewal resources have been used at a large pace. The use of metal
ores have been excessively used (Zheng et al. 2014). Therefore, metal foams have been helping
in maintaining the use of metal and replacing with metal foams.
This study focuses on the different types of the metal foams and its uses in the market. The
issues in the use of metals and how metal foams have helped in minimizing these issues have
been discussed.

4
METAL FOAMS
Aim, Objectives and Research questions
The aim of study is to identify the impact of metal foams in engineering materials.
The objectives of the research are as follows:
 To identify impact of metal foams used in engineering materials
 To identify challenges in using metal foams as engineering materials
 To mitigate these challenges using certain strategies
The research questions are as follows:
 What is the impact of metal foams used in engineering materials?
 What challenges are faced in using metal foams as engineering materials?
 How to mitigate these challenges in using metal foams as an engineering materials?
Research Outline
Figure 2: Research Outline
Introduction
Literature Review
Research Methodology
Data Findings and Analysis
Conclusion and recommendations

5
METAL FOAMS
(Source: Created by author)

6
METAL FOAMS
Literature Review
Modern research has been focusing in the technology of inventing new materials for
producing structural elements of low density and enhanced performances. Therefore, researchers
have been looking for lighter elements for constructing structures in order to reduce weight and
energy saving. Metal foams have been simulated with structure including pores, spongy and
cellular materials. Metal foams contain Nickel (Ni), Aluminum (Al), Zinc (Zn), Magnesium
(Mg) and Titanium (Ti) alloys (Garcia-Avila, Portanova and Rabiei 2015). Metal foams with
open and closed cells have been produced in the market. Metal foams have been a mixture of gas
metal having high volume percent of gas in the mixture.
The mechanical properties of metal foams have been affected by several factors
including properties of solid material used for preparing metal foam, Fraction volume of solid
material and spatial arrangement of solid structure of metal form. Metal foams can be produced
by melting of metal powder and foaming of molten metal. However, in this process aluminum
alloys can be foamed by mixing of foaming agent. Various shaped foam components and 3D
shaped sandwich panels include cores of foam and face sheets of aluminum have been developed
(Cunsolo et al. 2015). These metal foams have been based on light-weight metals with several
properties including high stiffness and conjunction with low weight and high compression
abilities. Therefore, these metal foams have been used instead pf metals. These foams are
produced by gas injection from an external source of gas bubbles during melting process. Some
experimental proof for action of stabilizing particles in metal foams have been studied.

7
METAL FOAMS
Methodology
The research will be based on the secondary approach of methodology. A qualitative
approach will be used in order to collect data and information related to the metal foams. The
research design will be focused on experimental design of analyzing the properties of metal
foams. There are three kinds of metal foams used in this research study including Alporas foams
(Al-5%Ca-3%Ti) [5] of different densities, an aluminum foam (Al-1%Mg-0.5%Si) made by salt
replication process, and Mepura foam (Al-10%Si) [6] fabricated by powder metallurgy. An MTS
hydraulic machine will be utilized for quasi-static compression and indentation with constant
crosshead speed for recording the stress-strain curves (Alipanah and Li 2016). The indentation
tests will be performed with flat-bottomed circular cylindrical indenters. The structure of metal
foams will be investigated by X-ray tomography. The X-ray tomography will be performed with
a cone-beam system with resolution of 50 mm (Ranut, Nobile and Mancini 2014). There has
been a computer controlled DAKEL_XEDO-3 AE system will be used for monitoring acoustic
emission response of metal foams.
Timeline
Task Name Duration Start Finish Predecessors
Metal Foams 93 days Mon
6/4/18 Wed 10/10/18
Study Initiation 11 days Mon
6/4/18 Mon 6/18/18
Research Requirements Analysis 2 days Mon
6/4/18 Tue 6/5/18
Research Topic Approval from Supervisor 1 day Wed
6/6/18 Wed 6/6/18 2
Research Plan Charter development 2 days Thu
6/7/18 Fri 6/8/18 3,2
Research Framework 4 days Mon
6/11/18 Thu 6/14/18 4,2
Draft Proposal 2 days Fri Mon 6/18/18 5,4

8
METAL FOAMS
6/15/18
Research Planning 21 days Tue
6/19/18 Tue 7/17/18
Research Team formation 2 days Tue
6/19/18 Wed 6/20/18 6
Research Requirement analysis 1 day Thu
6/21/18 Thu 6/21/18 6,8
Research Questions identification 4 days Fri
6/22/18 Wed 6/27/18 8,9
Research scope 4 days Thu
6/28/18 Tue 7/3/18 10
Research Timeline 4 days Wed
7/4/18 Mon 7/9/18 10,11
Allocation of Resources and Time for the Research 2 days Tue
7/10/18 Wed 7/11/18 10,11,12
Research Initiation 4 days Thu
7/12/18 Tue 7/17/18 13
Research Development 26 days Wed
7/18/18 Wed 8/22/18
Research Problems 4 days Wed
7/18/18 Mon 7/23/18 13,14
Necessary Media access 1 day Tue
7/24/18 Tue 7/24/18 13,16
Online Library access 1 day Tue
7/24/18 Tue 7/24/18 13,16
Literary Sources selection 2 days Wed
7/25/18 Thu 7/26/18 13,17,18
Literature Review 4 days Fri
7/27/18 Wed 8/1/18 19
Primary data collection 10 days Thu
8/2/18 Wed 8/15/18 19,20
Secondary Data collection 5 days Thu
8/16/18 Wed 8/22/18 21
Data Analysis 8 days Thu
8/23/18 Mon 9/3/18
Primary Data 4 days Thu
8/23/18 Tue 8/28/18 21,22
Secondary Data 4 days Wed
8/29/18 Mon 9/3/18 24
Research Evaluation 13 days Tue
9/4/18 Thu 9/20/18
Data Evaluation 6 days Tue
9/4/18 Tue 9/11/18 21,22,23,24
Research reflection 2 days Wed Thu 9/13/18 27

9
METAL FOAMS
9/12/18
Learning Outcomes documentation 2 days Wed
9/12/18 Thu 9/13/18 27
Issues Identification and Future Planning 5 days Fri
9/14/18 Thu 9/20/18 29,28
Research Closure 14 days Fri
9/21/18 Wed 10/10/18
All Activities completion 1 day Fri
9/21/18 Fri 9/21/18 30

10
METAL FOAMS
Figure 3: Gantt Chart
(Source: Created by Author)

11
METAL FOAMS
References
Alipanah, M. and Li, X., 2016. Numerical studies of lithium-ion battery thermal management
systems using phase change materials and metal foams. International Journal of Heat and Mass
Transfer, 102, pp.1159-1168.
Chen, Z., Gao, D. and Shi, J., 2014. Experimental and numerical study on melting of phase
change materials in metal foams at pore scale. International Journal of Heat and Mass
Transfer, 72, pp.646-655.
Cunsolo, S., Oliviero, M., Harris, W.M., Andreozzi, A., Bianco, N., Chiu, W.K. and Naso, V.,
2015. Monte Carlo determination of radiative properties of metal foams: Comparison between
idealized and real cell structures. International Journal of Thermal Sciences, 87, pp.94-102.
Diani, A., Bodla, K.K., Rossetto, L. and Garimella, S.V., 2015. Numerical investigation of
pressure drop and heat transfer through reconstructed metal foams and comparison against
experiments. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 88, pp.508-515.
Feng, S., Zhang, Y., Shi, M., Wen, T. and Lu, T.J., 2015. Unidirectional freezing of phase
change materials saturated in open-cell metal foams. Applied Thermal Engineering, 88, pp.315-
321.
Garcia-Avila, M., Portanova, M. and Rabiei, A., 2015. Ballistic performance of composite metal
foams. Composite Structures, 125, pp.202-211.
Ranut, P., 2016. On the effective thermal conductivity of aluminum metal foams: Review and
improvement of the available empirical and analytical models. Applied Thermal
Engineering, 101, pp.496-524.

12
METAL FOAMS
Ranut, P., Nobile, E. and Mancini, L., 2014. High resolution microtomography-based CFD
simulation of flow and heat transfer in aluminum metal foams. Applied thermal
engineering, 69(1-2), pp.230-240.
Zheng, Z., Wang, C., Yu, J., Reid, S.R. and Harrigan, J.J., 2014. Dynamic stress–strain states for
metal foams using a 3D cellular model. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 72,
pp.93-114.