Material properties, types and application prospects of metal foam

Types of Metal foams
At present, the main preparation methods of metal foamed are sintering method, electroplating method, pressure casting method and foaming method.Among them, the powder metallurgy method subdivided by electroplating method and foaming method is the most common. We are here to briefly introduce the first three：
Aluminum foam and its alloys: it is light in quality and has the characteristics of heat insulation, sound insulation, electromagnetic shielding, and absorption of impact energy. It is mostly used in the impact protection layers of missiles, aircraft, and their recovered components. In addition, we can also see it in the fields of automobile buffers, electroNic machinery damping devices, pulsed power supply electromagnetic wave shields, etc.
Nickel foam: With its connected pore structure and high porosity, it performs well in terms of high ventilation, high specific surface area and capillary force.It is commonly used in the production of fluid filters, catalysts, atomizers, battery electrode plates and heat exchangers.
Copper foam: It has good electrical conductivity and ductility. Compared with nickel foam, the preparation cost is lower and the electrical conductivity is better. It has great promise in the preparation of battery negative electrode (carrier) materials, catalyst carriers and electromagnetic shielding materials. However, copper foam is not as good as nickel because of its corrosion resistance, which limits its application space.
Application of metal foam
Metal foamed has been widely used in a series of industrial developments such as aerospace, petrochemical environmental protection, construction and transportation protection. According to the problems it targets, we divide the application direction of foamed metal into four main directions.：
Laminated body: Because the metal foam has a certain strength, ductility, and low density and weight, it is commonly used in the production of a variety of laminated composite materials, and it is widely used in the production of lightweight coils that carry panels, housings, and pipe bodies. It is widely used.Such as the core material of the clamping parts used in aircraft, movable buildings, spaceships, sleds, etc.
Support body: Foam plastic is light and hard, with good bearing capacity and heat transfer function. It has many applications in wing housings, missile nose stacks, spacecraft landing gear, etc.In addition, metal foam is also required for components or railings that require light, hard, and fire-resistant properties to be used in buildings, as well as for reinforcement and support of some thin-walled cylindrical shells.
Cushioning and shock absorption: metal foam has the ability to absorb energy, which can reduce the external force on the object to a safe range.By adjusting the density of the metal foam, its strength can be grasped, and it can be applied to the cushioning application of a variety of materials.And it is worth mentioning that under the action of constant stress, the metal foam can withstand a lot of compressive strain and can absorb a lot of energy. For example, in the manufacture of artificial bones, metal foam not only has high mechanical properties, but also meets the large porosity required for human bones.
Noise reduction: Metal foam has good sound absorption and sound insulation effects. It is used in highway noise reduction, automobile internal combustion engine cylinders, high-speed train power generation rooms, radio recording, etc.
As a new material, metal foamed has very good performance in terms of cost and practicality. Under the current development trend of science and technology, the innovative preparation and application field expansion of metal foamed are very active, and the future development is worth looking forward to.