Fabricating Al Foam from Turning Scraps

Abstract

This article describes the sintering-dissolution process (SDP) that is employed for fabricating aluminium foams from AA336 turning scraps. The effect of sintering temperature, chip size, and chip weight fraction in the NaCl/Al mixture on the mechanical properties of the foams produced was also investigated. The results indicate that, in contrast to commercial-purity Al foams, which (as stated in the literature) can be produced in SDP by either liquid- or solid-state sintering, solid-state sintering does not take place between the AA336 chips, and so melting of the chips is essential to form a strong network structure in the preform. A chip weight fraction of 60%, chip size of about 0.5 mm, and a sintering temperature of 600°C were determined to be the optimum parameters for a successful sintering dissolution process for the fabrication of Al foams from AA336 turning scraps.