Proposal of Method of Removal of Mould Material from the Fine Structure of Metallic Foams used as Filters

Abstract

Metallic foams are materials that are subject of an ongoing research with the broad applicability in many different areas (e.g. automotive industry, building industry, medicine, etc.). These metal materials contain in their structure artificially created pores. These pores give them specific properties, such as: large rigidity at low density, high thermal conductivity, capability to absorb energy, etc. Since the discovery of porous metallic materials numerous methods of production have been developed. The aim of the paper is to introduce effective casting methods of manufacturing of metallic foams, namely cast metal filters from the aluminum alloy. Research deals with investment casting with use of pattern made of polymeric foam, which is used for production of metallic foam with open pores. The main disadvantage of this procedure consists in removing the mould material without damaging the fine structure of the cast filter. Plaster is used as the mould material and the most important result of this paper is the presentation of the effective procedure of plaster removal from the porous structure of cast filters.