Author : B. Ashok Kumar, C. Naga Kumar and V. Chengal Reddy

Metallic foams offer interesting perspectives due to the combination of properties which are related to the metallic character on one hand and to the porous structure on the other hand. The production of foamed aluminium has long been considered difficult to achieve because of problems such as the low formability of the molten metal, the varying size of the cellular structures, and solidification shrinkage. Aluminium foams have become popular because of their properties such as high stiffness combined with very low density .Their cellular structure causes to show unique features, such as energy absorbing capacity, thermal properties and sound absorbing properties. With these properties the aluminium foams are being used in many applications like automobile, railways, aerospace, ship building, household and furniture etc. Methods for producing metal foams are many but obtaining repeatability in the properties is very difficult. The main challenge posed by the metal foam is that obtaining homogeneous porosity. Literature reveals that producing good quality aluminium foams, both open cell and closed cell costs very high. In the light of the above the present work focuses on producing the low cost aluminium foams with better quality using CaCO3 as foaming agent in the closed cell aluminum foam and polystyrene granules as space holders in open cell aluminium foam.

Keywords: Aluminium foam, Porosity, Aluminium Sponge.