STRENGTHENING THE PORE WALLS OF Al FOAMS WITH SURFACE-ALLOYING TECHNIQUE

Abstract

This paper describes a new method for surface-alloying treatment to strengthen the pore walls of Al foams using the powder metallurgy method. The advantage of this technique is that the pore walls of Al foams can be enhanced efficiently during the process of preparation. Spherical carbamide particles coated with bronze powder were employed as space-holder. The pore configuration depends mainly on the distribution of space-holder particles during the cold compacted process. The phase components of the modified Al foams were studied by X-ray diffraction Rietveld refinement. Results show that the strengthening effect on the mechanical property of Al foams is significantly related to both phase compositions and phase grain size among the pore walls.