Foaming of pure aluminium by TiH₂

Abstract

The Al/TiH2 precursor was heated in an infrared furnace to melt aluminium and to decompose TiH2, which resulted in the H2 gas generation in molten aluminium. Titanium hydride (TiH2) powder as a foaming agent was added to the aluminium melt. The aim of this paper is to understand the detailed decomposition behaviour of TiH2 powder and to control the phenomenon by a heat treatment for the fabrication of fine aluminium foams by the melt route. We have found differences in the decomposition behaviour between the as received TiH2 powders. The influence of the heat treatment temperature on the decomposition modification is more significant than time. There was an adequate temperature range for a satisfactory blowing behaviour. When the heating temperature was low, the precursor did not expand sufficiently.