Open-Cell Foam Metal Production and Characterization by Aluminum Solid Mold Investment Casting

Foam metals can be categorized in two basic classes: open-cell and closed-cell structures, which both have different numerous unique properties. Up to the present, several production processes have been developed for each class. Investment casting is known as a replication process for open-cell foam metal fabrication. Solid mold, which can be evaluated as a subtechnique of the investment casting, is specialized especially for small complex shapes with ultrathin sections. This work is a presentation of aluminum open-cell foam production with solid mold investment casting using two different kinds of patterns. The first one is “burnable,” in which liquid metal directly fills the shape of pattern and the second is “leachable,” in which metal takes the form of intergranular network shape of porous salt preforms.